The Mercenary
by Cosette 24601
Summary: Trying to assassinate the High King and Queen Susan isn't exactly the most orthodox way to get to know them. But he was a mercenary, a thug, this is what he did. And should he fail, his newly found family would be murdered. A redemption story set in the Golden Ages. Sequel "Behind Glittering Gold" has been posted.
1. A Dangerous Deal

**A redemption story taking place during the Golden Ages. Contains some dark themes. Such themes in the beginning of the story relate directly to this being a redemption story. Other dark themes evolve much later in the story. **

**Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Narnia. **

He ran his fingers up and down the blade, a smile slowly spreading across his face. It had been so long since he had held a genuine sword from Archenland, his homeland. Honestly though, he was simply glad he was going to be doing his old work again, something he hadn't done since he had worked for the White Witch. Since her demise, he had been on the run from the surprisingly efficient children kings and queens, which rather ruined his reputation as the best mercenary around. And the border had far too many dryads for his to leave. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised that his first job since then was to assassinate two of the new Kings and Queens. Revenge and a well-paying job. Thankfully, they were older now. Darius wasn't so sure he would have ever had the heart to kill children, even when he himself had been hardly more than a child. But the kings and queens were adults now, and it was the oldest two he was to kill.

It had been a week since the Tarkaan Varash somehow tracked him down and they made this evil deal.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback<em>

"I'm here, though I much rather not be," Darius said, walking up to the Calormen's with his arms crossed and glaring. He had only shown up because the letter Varash sent had made it clear that there would be repercussions should Darius not attend. And having done a job for Varash before, Darius was well aware he would follow through on the threat. He still hoped that he could somehow talk his way out of whatever job it was Varash had for him. "What is it? I no longer do mercenary work. And don't use your ridiculous Calormen flattery on me. I despise it."

"Ahh, Darius, the best, most esteemed mercenary-"

"No! I just told you, I no longer do anything like that. I have my sister and her children to think of. If I get captured or die, they have no one to support them. Not to mention, if anyone finds out I even met with an agent of the Tisroc's it could lead them here and they'll arrest and execute me. And since meeting you here is endangering me right now, I think I will leave." He turned around and began to walk out, with the tiniest hope that Varash just might leave him alone. He shouldn't – couldn't – do anything that may cause harm to his dear sister Lisette or her children. He owed life to his older sister, so he could not refuse when she managed to track him down and said she needed him to move in with them to help her care for her children after her husband left her. And he quickly learned to love his nephew and nieces as well. He swore to himself that would not do anything now that might put them in harm's way, even though his past put them in danger's path.

"What if the job I were to offer you could provide for them and yourself for the rest of your lives?"

That made him stop. He and Lisette had been struggling for some time, especially since the fortune Darius made off of mercenary work had quickly disappeared as he paid people off when trying to escape the kings and queens. When he moved in with his sister a few years ago after her husband left her, he had very little money left and had to take whatever jobs he could find that wouldn't expose him. Now that Lisette's eldest, Pheneus was able to work, it had lightened a bit for a little while, but then they had to move again because of suspicious neighbors, taking quite a toll in their savings. But even if they weren't struggling, the thrill of doing his previous work would have been sorely tempting.

_But if I die or am captured in the attempt, they receive nothing and have lost me. But if I should succeed, then no more worries. This one last job isn't wrong is it? I know Lisette despises this sort of work, but if it were to solve all our problems…_

"What is the job?" he asked, turning around slowly.

Varash grinned a devilish grin. "The Narnian High King and older Queen are going to return to Cair Paravel from Anvard in just a few days as they finish off the treaty. For obvious reasons, the Tisroc (may he live forever) would not be happy with an alliance between two of our greatest enemies. Assassinate the High King and his sister and make it look like you were sent by Archenland to do it."

Darius instantly shook his head no. There was no way that job this damn big would go unnoticed. His family would have to go on the run for the rest of their lives. If Darius managed to actually do the job in the first place. "Absolutely not."

"But just imagine the reward we will give you. Riches beyond your wildest imagination. Jewels of-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Darius said, rolling his eyes. The Calormens who wanted to hire him always said the same damn things. "But what good are those to me if I'm dead? Even I can't get away with assassinating them. No deal."

"Your family will get the reward even if you are executed," Varash offered, in a desperate attempt to appease him.

"And if I die or am captured before killing them?" Darius said, crossing his arms. He was sorely tempted to take the job, exciting by the idea of the thrill of the hunt, the challenge it would bring, but was held back by his promise to his sister.

"Hmm…" Varash said, stalling for time. Darius turned and started walking away, knowing that if he stayed much longer he would give into the temptation. Varash began panicking.

"Wait, wait!" he shouted. The other Calormens interpreted this as an order to stop Darius from leaving the cave and blocked the exit. Darius narrowed his eyes. He had two daggers hidden on his person, but preferred to not cause any bloodshed and draw unwanted police attention to the area where he lived.

"What it is?" he growled, refusing to turn around.

"What we really need is them to believe Archenland has betrayed them. Kill at least one of them, make sure to imply you were sent by Archenland, and I promise your family will be compensated for your brave deed."

"And if I die or am captured before killing either of them?" Darius said, putting a strong façade but was sorely tempted by the reward and the thrill having this sort of job used to bring him.

"I trust that you are far too excellent at this sort of work for that. You've never failed the Tisroc (may he live forever) before."

"What happens if I die or am captured before killing either of them?!" Darius growled. Of course he had never failed the Tisroc before. He had been in practice and none of the jobs were nearly this big.

"Convince them that you are part of an Archenland plot, and your family will be given compensation for your death. However, if the kings and queens should find out that Calormen was connected to the assassination, it will not end well for your family. The same if you do not take this job."

Darius grimaced, realizing there was little choice. At least he had managed to make the deal go in his favor much more than it might have otherwise. He finally turned around to face Varash. "I'm not going to sign on to do a job without rewards agreed upon beforehand in a contract, without the basic information, and without any weapons."

"So you will do it?"

"Isn't that what I just said?"

* * *

><p>Darius turned the sword over in his hand once more. He sheathed it and walked quietly into his house, tiptoeing to avoid waking his family. He grabbed a bag and stuffed it with some food for the journey. A grin slowly crept across his face. He hadn't been this excited in years. Not only would this challenge provide for his family, but he could have his revenge for the kings and queens for forcing him into hiding for so long.<p>

"Uncle Darius," a young boy's voice whispered. "What were you doing out so late?"

Darius froze. He turned around and saw his nephew Pheneus staring up at him. He knelt to look at his nephew in the eye.

"What I'm doing will change our fortune for the better. While I'm gone, you're the man of the house, you understand? Take care of your mother and sisters."

"Yes, Uncle Darius. Of course. I'll pray to Aslan that you come home safe."

"We're Archenlanders! We don't have to pray to Aslan! Besides, I highly doubt he's real," Darius hissed. _Not to mention, rather cruelly ironic to pray to Aslan when I'm trying to kill the High King and Queen._

"I'm going to pray for you anyways," Pheneus said, hugging his uncle. Darius ran his fingers through his precious nephew's hair, wishing he could give a proper good-bye to his family. There was a good chance he'd never see them again, but at least they would be provided for.

* * *

><p>The High King pressed the Narnians to travel as fast as possible once they left Anvard, in case Archenland was planning on trying any treachery while they were travelling. The treaty had gone well, but he was still hesitant to fully trust the Archenlanders. They finally stopped for this night and set up camp.<p>

"Brother, I would like to sleep under the stars, if you do not mind," Susan said with a smile.

"Of course. I will too, and anyone else who so wishes," he said with a grin. As it turned out, most of the Narnians wanted to sleep outside. It was warm enough that it was comfortable and the skies were clear enough that the stars looked simply majestic.

Susan stared at the stars, silently naming the constellations. Suddenly she saw a rustling in the forest and looked over and saw a man up in a tree, looking at them. An Archenlander, by the look of his clothes. She glanced over at Peter, but he was still fast asleep. She crawled over to where her horn was hanging and hid it in the folds of her dress. She didn't want to wake the others for no reason and after all, if she had her horn with her, how dangerous could approaching the man be? Even if he was dangerous, her horn could always call for help. She walked up to him, as he started disappearing into the woods. She pressed on, not sure what was compelling her to follow him. Something about him intrigued her and she simply had to know who this man was. It made very little sense for her to follow a random Archenlander after spending so much time with them, but she moved on anyways.

"It's alright! I'm Queen Susan of Narnia," Susan whispered brightly. "I'm a friend. I want to find out who you are."

Suddenly she heard a thump behind her and felt a strong arm reach across her breasts and pull her backwards and a dagger being held against her neck. Susan could tell by the feel of his body against hers that her capturer was a man, probably the one she had been following. Her heart began pounding fast and she was sure the man could feel it. She bit her tongue to keep from screaming, not wanting him to use her as a shield against the Narnians attacking. There might be a chance that she could talk her way out of this.

"Oh, sorry," the man said, moving his arm from her breasts to nearer her neck.

"Usually people trying to capture me aren't so polite about protecting my honor," she observed dryly. The man chuckled darkly.

"Not that it matters much. You'll be dead soon, unfortunately," a voice whispered. "I thought I had messed up when you saw me, but instead you practically deliver yourself into my hands. I supposed that's why _you_ have a reputation as being gentle. I'm actually hoping the next half of my job is more difficult, or else this all will be too dull," he said sarcastically. He pulled her tighter as she tried to struggle.

"Who are you? What are you after?" she asked, stalling for time as she strained to reach for her horn.

"You, your majesty," he said flatly.

"I figured as much seeing as you have a knife at my throat. My brother the High King will reward you if you let me go," Susan said, calmly. She knew losing her calm demeanor would only be more likely to ensure her death.

"Not as much as Archenland will for your death!" the man said, pressing the knife to her neck a bit harder but not actually piercing her skin. Susan was shocked and frightened.

_So Peter was right to worry. But why? King Lune seemed to want the alliance and friendship as much as we did! _Susan thought. She kept her wits about her however and managed to grab her horn.

"What's that?" the man suddenly said. He grabbed her arm before she could raise it to her lips and pried the horn from her fingers and tossed it aside. In the struggle for the horn, he temporarily loosened his grip on her and she managed to escape his arms. However, he quickly grabbed her long hair and twisted it between his fingers to pull her back.

"Not so fast, your majesty," the man said in a mocking voice.

"Please let me go," Susan cried, struggling and trying to pull away, but his arms were too strong. "My brothers and sister will track you down if you take me away and-"

"Well then good thing I'm not being paid to capture you. Just to kill you," he said, suddenly letting go. Susan hit the ground hard and looked up at the man, confused. He then drew a Archenlander sword, and lifted it so he could kill her with one strong blow.

* * *

><p>Peter stirred. He thought he had heard someone call his name. He opened his eyes and saw he was in a grassy field. He looked around confused. He heard his name being called again and began walking. He walked past a hill and saw his sister.<p>

"Lucy?" he asked incredulously. She was a little girl again.

"Peter! Peter!" she cried out, running towards him to give him a hug. He got down on one knee to be her height and hug her back.

"Peter, would you do anything for me?" she said, adorably smiling, showing a missing front tooth. She sat down and gestured for him to sit by her.

"Of course!" Peter exclaimed while sitting. "I love you!"

"Would you kill a stranger if it would help me?" she asked, suddenly sad.

"Why would you ask such a thing?" Peter said, drawing back in shock.

"Answer the question. Pleeeeease Petey pleeeeease," she said, giving the adorable dimpled smile that always made him melt.

"Of course I would. I would do absolutely anything for you! But why do you ask such things?"

"Why? Why would you hurt another family just to help your own family? Why would you kill others for me? That doesn't seem like its fair," she asked gravely, touching his cheek.

"I wouldn't want to, but I would do it. And no it isn't fair, but my family always comes first to me," he said reaching out to her. He then pulled his arms back as a blinding yellow mist came from inside of Lucy's heart and enveloped her. When the mist evaporated, there stood Aslan.

"Aslan? What happened to Lucy?" Peter asked in shock, quickly bowing reverently to the Lion.

"Lucy was never actually here. But remember what you said. And when other make the same mistake you just admitted you would make, do not judge them too harshly for their crimes."

" Edmund's handling all the court cases right now. Why did you come to me and not him?"

"Peace, Peter. You will understand when the time comes. Now wake, your other sister needs you."

Aslan breathed on Peter and he awoke, confused by what he had seen.

"Susan?" Peter whispered, knowing she would want to hear all about Aslan's visit. Peter looked around for her. "Susan? Susan? Susan?!" He suddenly noticed her horn was gone. All thoughts about his strange dream vanished instantly, replaced by fear for his sister's life.

"Narnians, awaken!" he called out. The various creatures groggily woke up. He ordered, "Now!"

"What is it?"

"It's not morning yet!"

"Susan's missing," Peter said. At the name of their beloved queen, the Narnians were all instantly awake and alert.

"Sire, I recommend we split up into small groups to search for her," a centaur named Levitus offered. Peter nodded and the centaur quickly formed groups, placing Peter with himself and two ferocious tigers in case someone was targeting the monarchs.

* * *

><p>"Well then good thing I'm not being paid to capture you. Just to kill you," Darius said, pushing the queen to the ground. She hit the ground hard and looked up at him. He was surprised to see not fear, but acceptance in her eyes. And something else… almost like she felt sorry for him. He then drew a sword, and lifted it so he could kill her with one strong blow rather than dragging it out. He rarely had been sadistic in his murdering technique, in part because he wanted it over quickly to not think about what it was he was doing. But now even killing her quickly was hard. After all, he was no longer the hardened, ruthless killer he was before. And there was simply something about her, so strong and yet so vulnerable. So beautiful…He involuntarily began to lower his sword.<p>

"May Aslan have mercy on your soul," she said softly.

The name Aslan reminded him of his nephew and why he took this job. He swung his sword down.

He suddenly got tackled from the side by some flying furry object which was screaming, "I found her! Help!"

"What the-" he said as he realized he was being attacked by what appeared to be an oversized talking mouse. The mouse didn't weigh enough to knock him down, but was enough to make him loose his balance and his sword swing wide, missing the queen by a few inches.

"Stay away from her majesty, imbecile!" the mouse said shrilly, stabbing a tiny sword into Darius' side. A man suddenly ran up, sword in hand.

"For Narnia!" he cried, while swinging his sword at Darius. Darius brought his sword up just in time. He narrowed his eyes. The man looked fairly different from the drawing of the High King that Varash had shown him. But that wasn't too surprising since royalty often wanted their best features accentuated and any bad features to disappear when being drawn. His drawing was much closer to his actual looks though than any drawing of the Tisroc that Darius had ever seen.

The man faked to the right and then swung from the left. Darius easily intercepted it, not at all fooled by the fake. He saw the man's eyes glance down for a moment and took a second to look at his feet and jumped just in time to avoid being stabbed in the foot by the mouse. A much larger animal that Darius wasn't familiar with pounced from behind the bushes and knocked Darius over. He grunted in pain as the animal dug its claws into his chest. Darius braced himself and put all his strength into flinging the animal off of himself. He aimed for flinging the animal into the man and it worked! The animal flew off and hit the man in his chest. Susan screamed, terrified that they might die for her sake. The man dropped his sword as he fell over. Darius quickly grabbed the man's sword and poised the Archenland sword and the stolen sword over the man, ready to kill him. Maybe Darius wouldn't have time to kill the queen before the animals took him down, but he would have the chance to kill the High King and his family would be rewarded.


	2. Interrogation

"No! Richard!" the queen screamed despairingly just a moment before Darius was about to cut off the man's head.

_Richard?_ Darius thought incredulously. So this man wasn't the High King. _Since when do the Narnians have other humans in their employment?_ he thought furiously. That would have been an extremely useful bit of information to have had. Darius held the two swords above Richard's head, debating whether to kill this man anyways or not. Usually it would have been a good idea to kill him, but he just wasn't as hard-hearted anymore. Richard looked up at him with frightened eyes, like prey that knows it's about to die. _It won't hurt to let him live,_ Darius thought, slowly lowering the blades. He then quickly used the hilt to hit the man on the forehead and knock him out. Suddenly he heard footsteps behind him. He turned just in time to see the queen creeping up behind him, dagger drawn and ready to kill. He blocked her dagger in time with one sword and used the hilt of the other sword to hit her arm so she would drop the dagger. Her eyes widened, but instead of running away as he expected her to, she dove for her horn and blew it. A beautiful crystalline sound filled the air.

* * *

><p>The tree behind the man awoke slowly. He looked at the human appraisingly. The dryad then looked at Susan. She lifted her hand to show her ring that identified her as a queen of Narnia. The man seemed oblivious to the silent tree behind him. He walked over to Susan and raised his two swords above her.<p>

"I'm actually sorry that I have to do this," the man said, surprising Susan with his words. She looked into his eyes and saw guilt there and knew the truth of what he said.

A moment later the dryad knocked the man down. Arianis, the leopard who had earlier attacked the man, got up shakily and prepared to attack.

"Wait," Susan ordered. "Do not kill him; let the tree knock him out." Arianis bowed to her queen in acceptance of the order, despite being quite visibly eager to tear the man to shreds. The dryad used the trunk of his tree to deliver an extremely forceful blow to the man's head. He fell unconscious instantly and a red bump began forming on his head.

"I thank you, good tree. Tell me, what is your name?" Susan said to the dryad as various other animals started appearing who had come running at the sound of her horn.

"Kuruk, milady," he said bowing. "May I be dismissed to return to my sleep in my tree?"

"Of course, good tree," she said, waving her hand in dismissal. A moment later Peter ran in, too late to help, and was almost instantly at his sister's side.

"Susan! What happened? Are you alright?"

"Yes, brother. Tigers," she gestured to the Tigers who were flanking Peter on either side, "Please guard this man and make sure he does not wake. But do not harm him unless necessary."

"Did he attack you?" Peter asked, hand grasping the hilt of his sheathed sword. Susan knew when he touched the hilt it was for assurance, but when he grasped it he was about to act.

"Brother, wait before making any rash movements," Susan cautioned, looking pointedly at Peter's sheath. Peter moved his hand away but was still visibly tense.

"Did he attack you?" Peter repeated more firmly. "If he did, then by Narnian law-"

"Then by Narnian law he should be put on trial, not dealt with here in the forest," Susan interrupted. "And he did not succeed in killing me, so execution may not be the only option for him."

"Your majesty, he seemed incredibly dangerous!" Fezzichup, the mouse that had saved her said.

"Sir Arianis, Sir Richard, Sir Fezzichup, are you all alright?" Susan said. Peter's eyes narrowed, knowing his sister was purposely changing the subject. The three knights assured her they were fine, even though it was not entirely true.

"Then let us proceed to Cair Paravel," Susan said standing up. Two of the fauns rushed to her side to help her up. "I'm fine, thank you."

He turned to the Narnians to address them. "Friends, let us press on to Cair Paravel with all due haste. This blackguard may be followed by others should we not be vigilant. Bind the criminal's arms and legs and tie him inside one of the carriages. If anyone is caught trying to speak with him or help him in any way, we will assume you have betrayed us. There is to be a guard of at least 2 creatures on him at all times. We ourselves shall interrogate him at Cair Paravel."

* * *

><p>Once they had returned to Cair Paravel, Peter gave everyone a few hours to get themselves settled and refreshed from their journey before having them all come to council to go over the events that occurred. He rummaged through some of the paperwork that someone, most likely Mr. Tumnus, had piled on his desk. One of them caught his eye. It was a report from a squirrel that Calormens, some soldiers and one who appeared to be a Tarkaan, had been seen with some male human of lighter skin color in a cave near Lantern Waste.<p>

_That's strange,_ Peter thought. _Two incidents involving humans in Narnia?_ It's not like humans weren't allowed to be in Narnia, and he knew there were a few living here, but

He walked down to the library.

"Bliss," he called to bluejay who ran the royal library, "Have a list created for me of all humans who live near Lantern Waste and a short summary of what we know about them. How long will it take?"

"About an hour, your majesty," the bluejay said.

"I will be at a private council. You have my permission to interrupt it," Peter said.

At the council, Peter instructed Susan to tell her story.

"So I went out to seek him, then he suddenly appeared behind me. He accidently grabbed me, um… here, and then apologized and raised his hand higher," she said, to much confusion. "Once he had put a dagger at my throat he made some comment about it being too easy and hoping the next half would be more difficult," Susan explained.

"Next half?" Edmund asked frowning.

"I have no clue. I asked him who he was and what he was after, and he only responded with 'You, your majesty.'"

"The assassin referred to you as 'your majesty'?" Oreius said confused.

"Yes, that is one of the reasons I think there is more to the story then I know of. If he was truly against Narnia or myself, he would not have said that," Susan responded, replicating Oreius' confusion.

"Continue with the story, Su," Peter said impatiently. "We can analyze afterwards."

"Alright," Susan said, figuring it was easier to not argue. "I told him you would reward him for letting me go, and he responded... with…"

"With what?" Lucy prodded after Susan trailed off.

"He said Archenland would pay better for my death." The room was dead silent at those words. After a few seconds the room started bursting into outbursts.

"Traitors!"

"But the alliance!"

"How dare they!"

"QUIET!" Peter yelled, pounding his fist into the table. The room instantly grew quiet. Peter took a second to take a breath and compose himself, knowing if he lost his temper the entire meeting would spiral out of control, like it had often done when he was younger and less in control of his temper.

"Your majesty, we cannot assume the assassin was at all truthful," Mr. Tumnus intervened, giving Peter more time to collect himself. "We can't accuse our new allies without proof. I suggest we wait to point the blame until after we figure out the full story."

"I agree," Lucy said. "But we should proceed cautiously and keep a watchful eye on Archenland just in case. We just can't let them know we're watching them."

"Indeed," Peter said. "Sister, continue recounting the events of that night."

When she got to the part of the assassin lowering the swords, several Narnians interrupted her. She raised a hand for silence and continued, "I did not understand his actions either. But even stranger: before he did try to kill after I blew my horn, he… apologized for trying to kill me."

Every Narnian except those who had been there looked shocked at those words.

"Apologized?!" Peter and Edmund exclaimed simultaneously.

"Yes, and I saw guilt in his eyes. I truly believe he actually meant it. That is why when the dryad that my horn had awakened knocked the man down, I ordered him to knock him out rather than kill him."

"This is all very strange, sister," Peter mused, still unconvinced.

"So a villain who tried to kill you, supposedly for Archenland, felt guilty about it, and wouldn't kill anyone but his target, you," Oreius said, trying to make sense of a nonsensical situation. The door opened and they all turned to see who had interrupted.

"Ah, Bliss, you have the information I asked for?" Peter said as the bird flew over to him, a paper dangling from his mouth by a string. He dismissed the bird and looked over the information.

"What's that?" Edmund asked curiously, leaning in towards his brother.

"Just reports on the humans living near Lantern Waste. Apparently there was suspicious activity there involving humans, so I requested information in case it was connected to this. Edmund, Susan, come to my room to go over this with me after we finish our meal. Interrogation on the prisoner will take place directly after."

"A-hem," Lucy said, glaring at him. "I'm not a little girl. I _will _be joining you for this."

"Peter, let her please," Susan said.

"Fine," Peter said exasperatedly, knowing arguing against both girls at the same time was generally futile. Edmund snickered a little until Peter shot him a glance.

* * *

><p>Darius looked around at his surroundings when he finally came to consciousness. They must have knocked him out for the whole trip from the forest to this… dungeon? He was locked in, so it probably was a dungeon, but quite frankly, he had stayed in dungeons much, much worse than this. He had a bed that was actually relatively comfortable and warm. And he was given a sizable cell all to himself. Most dungeons Darius had been in – which was more numerous than he'd like to admit – were nowhere near as comfortable. Unfortunately, the security also seemed to be much more vigilant, and the dungeon seemed better designed for keeping people in. Darius had been thoroughly searched earlier and those dratted animals managed to find even his most hidden weapons, something that rarely happened. It would be tricky trying to escape from here.<p>

He heard the sounds down the hall. The door to his cell opened and two minotaurs grabbed him and chained his arms and feet together.

"Move," one of them said, prodding him forward. They marched down the hallway and went into a room marked "Interrogation Room." _Who the heck labels stuff like that?_ He glanced behind himself and shook his head when he realized his room was labeled "Cell #4." _Someone is way too into labels. Weird. _The minotaur knocked and the High King opened the door with a look of disgust at Darius, who quickly looked at the floor instead of meeting his glare. _So the drawing didn't exaggerate. Darn. This is definitely the king. _Darius quickly took in his new surroundings to see if there was anything helpful. He was surprised to not see torture equipment. It was actually a cozy looking room. He would've though he was in a living room if it wasn't for the sign outside. _Maybe that's why all the labeling. So one wouldn't think it's a living room,_ he thought sarcastically.

"Chain him to the chair," the High King ordered, pointing at a wooden, cushioned chair in the center of the room. _And who thinks cushioned chairs are appropriate for interrogation? Not that I'm complaining. _The minotaurs unchained the chains between his arms and legs and reattached them to the chair and then stood guard on either side of him. _They seriously think of everything… damn. _

"I am High King Peter," the High King said, "My royal sister Queen Susan, although it seems you are familiar with who she is based on what you said in your attack, my royal brother King Edmund, and my royal sister Queen Lucy."

_Don't they have way more titles than that? Usually the royals are all about telling all of their annoying long titles. And pointless lineage. Maybe they just want to get my execution over with quick. Which means I need to work even harder to kill them sooner. _

"General Oreius is the centaur over there, and Captain Sirius is the faun here. The guards there are Killroy and Bernadette."

"Really? Bernadette?" Darius said surprised before he could stop himself. _A female minotaur? And what a misnomer. Or is it even called a minotaur for females? _The Witch had only male minotaurs in her army. Maybe she didn't want to be embarrassed by having someone named "Bernadette" in her army.

Bernadette snarled at him. Compensating for her girly name?

"But we are at a disadvantage here now, for you know our names but we do not know yours," he continued.

"And what makes you think I'll tell you anything, your majesty?" Darius sneered.

"At the very least, what would you like use to refer to you as?" he said after taking a deep breath. Darius was surprised. He had been trying to get a reaction out of the High King so that he would act on emotion. People acting out of anger, or annoyance, or anything similar usually made stupid mistakes that Darius could then exploit.

"Usually when I'm being interrogated I'm referred to by insults and such," Darius said, still determined to be difficult, no matter how kind the royals might be acting.

"That is not the Narnian way," Susan said imperiously. Darius turned his head to really look at her for the first time. She had cleaned up since the trip. She was pretty even unkempt in the forest, but now that she had bathed she looked glorious. Fair skin, full red lips, dark mysterious eyes, and black hair tumbling down her back in loose curls. Ohh, and he almost didn't notice… she was wearing a tunic and pants? He noticed her sister who was sitting next to her also was wearing a tunic and pants.

"Yeah, I've noticed you seem pretty different. Most of the others use a few torture devices and don't allow women to be present," he said, pointedly looking towards the queens.

"What is the point of this? I believe the criminal is trying to drag this out with useless talking to delay his execution!" the faun - Certius? Serious? – said, pounding a hoof against the floor.

"Peace, Sirius," the younger king said in a regal voice. "You, prisoner! We do have torture devices, but we used them only as a last resort. I hope that you will _not_ push us that far."

"Get used to disappointment, little boy," Darius sneered. When the king started getting up angrily, Darius grinned, knowing he had finally found something to anger one of them.

"Ed, sit. You, what is your _name?_" the High King said, more fiercely this time.

"Maybe it's Bernadette," Darius said sarcastically. The little queen giggled. Susan tapped her sister disapprovingly, but Darius could see that she was trying not to smile as well. Well then. He had been going for annoying, but maybe he could work with this too.

"How about we find some name to call you for now?" Susan said diplomatically. "How about… Roger?"

"That's a weird name. Where'd you come up with a bizarre name like that?"

"It's a common name in our world!" Susan said exasperatedly. "Fine, how about… Sebastian?"

"How about you just call me prisoner? I'm more used to that. Practically answer to it now. Or actually, your mouse called me imbecile. That's a new one for me. I rather like it," Darius said cockily. He had learned from his former mentor and friend that cockiness was a good way to annoy others into getting angry.

"Fine!" the High King said a bit testily. It seemed like his patience had its limit too. "Prisoner, who is your master?"

"I don't have one."

"High King, we're not going to get anything useful out of him this way!" the faun said angrily.

"He's right unfortunately, Pete. Should I?" the younger king said, raising a dagger, although not in a particularly threatening manner. The High King sighed and nodded. King Edmund then cut into Darius' skin. He grimaced, but managed to keep from shouting out.

"C'mon is that the best you've got?" Darius taunted, although he knew he was probably going to regret it. Edmund grimaced, but then pulled a vial out of his coat. He poured a few drops of the potion on Darius' skin and it burned horridly. His blood started bubbling to the surface. He felt the pain in his whole body. What barbarian potion was this?!

"Now are you ready to talk?"

"Archenland! I used to be part of the army there. They gave me this assignment thinking if I screwed up you would assume I was doing it because I worked as a mercenary for the White Witch." The four monarchs looked stunned at the mention of the White Witch. Or maybe it was the idea of Archenland betraying them. At least they didn't seem skeptical about his story.

"We tracked down almost all of her army…" Susan whispered, looking a bit nervous. Darius wondered why. An assassin trying to kill her she's fine with, but she's afraid of someone who worked for the White Witch? Seriously? She really needed to get her priorities straight.

"Darius! That's one of the human who we never found. And he's the right age and fits the description of his looks. And the description of one of the humans living near Lantern Waste, but not the right name. Could easily be a alias though," King Edmund said, sounding proud of himself. The High King suddenly looked very interested and smiled at his brother. The younger king looked thrilled by his brother's approval. _Little know-it-all ruining everything. They can't come after my family! _

"We should have the squirrel take a look at this man. If it was he the squirrel saw, then Archenland did not break our trust," Susan said with a small smile. Darius started panicking. _My family could die if the Narnians don't think it was Archenland! And what did the squirrel see!?_

"He's panicking now; it must be him," Edmund announced. Darius sneered at him. Susan got up from her seat. She put a hand to her brother's chest and gave a light push. He took this as a signal to return to his seat. Her next move shocked Darius. She took his hands in her soft, gentle hands and bent a little so she could look him in the eye.

"Susan!" both her brothers, the faun, and Oreius said. The little queen seemed to find the whole thing rather amusing still. She looked up around the room and frowned. She managed to somehow even make frowning beautiful.

"Don't dirty yourself by touching him!" the faun said, jabbing the hilt of his sword into Darius' side. It didn't hurt too much, but since the queen seemed to oddly be feeling sorry for him, it wouldn't hurt to make her think that the jab caused him pain so he winced.

"Sirius, enough! Or else I shall ask you to leave us. Darius – if indeed that is your name – you told me you were sorry for what you were doing. And you made an effort to not hold me inappropriately. This is why I do not believe you are the hardened criminal you appear to be."

"Well you're wrong, silly girl," Darius shot back. "Just like you're wrong about me being anywhere near Lantern Waste." He yanked his hands away from her, hating himself for it because he desperately craved her gentle touch. At this, the High King got up and slapped him.

"Don't dare to speak to my sister that way, prisoner. Apologize!"

"Then why did you let Richard live? And you hesitated before trying to kill me the first time? I don't truly believe you wanted to kill me and-" Queen Susan said to Darius, pushing her brother back so she could approach him again.

"I'm really starting to see why you're called the Gentle Queen," Darius interrupted, feeling guiltier by the second. _I tried to kill her and have been doing everything I can to annoy her. Why is she being so damn nice? It's so much easier to kill people who treat you like scum. _

"Enough! We aren't getting anywhere here. We will continue with this when we have the time. For his rudeness, give him only bread and water for his meal," the High King commanded, his arms folded against his chest.

_Like that would bother me. Loads better than the food – nah, gruel at best – in Calormen jails, _Darius thought. The minotaurs unchained him from the chair, and rechained his arms and legs before escorting him back to his cell.


	3. Confession

Darius was surprised to still be getting real meals. And even more surprised that alongside it was bandages and such to treat his arm. Today he even had a meal nicer and bigger than he had since… well, ever really.

"So much for bread and water," he mumbled. _Maybe their goal is to make me feel even guiltier about this whole thing by being nice to me…. if so… it's kinda working. _Darius had never before really cared about his targets. But he really didn't want to hurt the High King or queen. They were just way too nice. Especially the queen. But all four of them really. He couldn't even bring himself to hate the faun who shoved the hilt of his sword into his side. Darius knew anywhere else he would have gotten much worse. And sure that vile poison hurt like hell, but it was temporary, and they even gave him stuff to treat it with. Darius was used to leaving interrogations bloody dripping everywhere and immense pain. Well, either that or he had escaped during the interrogation. Thanks to Darius' talent, usually the latter. _Am I not really trying to escape?_ Darius suddenly thought. _Fiddlesticks! I think that's it… I seriously am slipping. _But maybe he didn't want to. But he had to for his family. For Lisette. And for Pheneus. And-

"You have a visitor," the minotaur said as she and the other minotaur walked in. Darius furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Um, I do? Ah, thanks for telling me Bernadette."

"I'm Killroy!" the minotaur said angrily, pushing Darius to the ground. The minotaurs then chained him up as usual and brought him down a different hallway. _Oh, look. It's labeled "Prisoners' Visitation Room." Of course. _

The minotaurs shoved him into an incredibly comfortable chair and chained him in, leaving the chains loose enough that Darius could get up and walk around a bit if he wanted. They then walked to the door and let the guest in.

"Pheneus! What are you thinking?! They might imprison you too! You should be with your sisters and mother!"

"I'm sorry, uncle. We were all just so worried about you! And then there was talk about you being arrested!...What happened?!" Pheneus said, visibly upset. Darius took his nephew into his arms and gave him a tight hug and buried his face in his nephew's messy hair.

"I'm so sorry; I'm so sorry; I'm so sorry," Darius kept murmuring again and again to the distraught boy.

"What did you do?"

"I made a horrid mistake. I broke my promise to your mother and went back to doing what I did before I met the four of you and you changed me."

"Why? Because you missed what you used to do?" Pheneus said, a bit bitterly.

"No! No!" Darius protested, horrified that Pheneus would think of him that way. Then he thought it over. _Was it that? _"Well… I'm honestly not sure."

"What… what do you mean?" Pheneus said quietly, confused by his uncle's words.

"I thought I was doing it to help you all. And if I had succeeded, it would have provided for us forever. I bargained that even if I almost completely failed they would still provide for you. But… there was a part of me that was happy to have a weapon again. Happy to do what I was… best at. A job that wasn't menial. But lately, I've had more time to think, and I would rather do any sort of menial, demeaning work that this. My mercenary work before… it was easier."

"Easier?"

"I always felt guilty doing my work. But it never bothered me much before now. But I tried to kill them and they…they had every right to execute me on the spot. At the very least, the interrogation should have been sheer torture the entire time through, not just one wound. Which they then gave me stuff to treat it with. Instead they wanted to know my name, she took my hands into hers, they've given me decent food and living space. Even when I was purposely rude to the incredible, gentle queen I was only punished with a slap. And supposedly rationed to only bread and water because of that, but they still gave me decent food anyways. I've been treated worse as a guest before. And I don't deserve any of it. I deserve to be tortured to death."

"But uncle, if you did it to help us…"

"I got swept by the idea of easy money to provide security. Maybe our life was bad, but I should've struggled through it. If I wanted to provide more for you I should've worked all night and all day rather than resort to my old ways."

"Uncle… I… want to ask you something. The jobs before, they didn't make you feel guilty?"

"Of course they did. But I learned to just not think of it. And I never really got to know anyone else. And when I did get interrogated, it was violent and horrendous enough that I despised the people so much I didn't feel guilty. But I was also a different person then. Your family brought out the best qualities in me," he said, meaning every word.

"It wasn't just us though that changed you."

"What do you mean?"

"I believe Aslan touched your heart. I've seen him. He told me you were in danger so I came to see you." Pheneus gently placed his hand on his uncle's chest to emphasize his point.

"Pheneus, the only true danger for me now is if you are in danger. You shouldn't have come here. Now I don't know what their majesties are going to do to you and I don't know what will happen if neither you nor I are there to protect your mother and sisters..." he trailed off as tears started forming in his eyes. He suddenly heard the sound of a door opening and looked towards the door he had come in through. It was still closed.

A clear strong voice pierced the room. "I have heard enough."

* * *

><p>Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy were all hidden behind a painting in the guest room. Susan had purposely ordered a secret compartment to be there in case they ever needed to use trickery to get a confession. Pheneus had arrived at Cair Paravel, saying Aslan had told him to come for his uncle's sake. The four wondered if that meant that Peter's dream of Aslan was about Darius. Susan, hoping Darius was indeed acting for his family's sake, suggested they use Pheneus to trick a confession out of Darius.<p>

Pheneus said he would do whatever they told him to do and agreed to be part of their trickery, even though he seemed reluctant to not be honest with his uncle. Susan admired the young lad's love for his uncle. Darius must deep down be a good man for Pheneus to have such trust in him. Susan studied her brother's face. Peter's face seemed to become less taut quickly. Eventually she started to see even pity in his eyes. Susan leaned over to her brother.

"I see why Aslan sent you the dream. I wish to think that in his place you'd have made a wiser decision, but I fear you would fall in the same trap he did," she whispered softly. Peter looked into her eyes for a few seconds and then slowly nodded. He pushed the picture open.

"I have heard enough," Peter said.

Darius turned around slowly. His face turned ashen at the sight of the four standing there. Pheneus reacted swifter, knowing this would happen and knelt, pulling down his uncle with him. However, Pheneus still looked scared, unsure if Peter saying he heard enough was good or bad for his beloved uncle. Susan gave a soft smile in hopes of reassuring the young boy.

"Your majesties," Darius said blankly, staring at the ground. "I had no idea you were listening."

"We know," Peter said evenly. "We ordered your nephew to speak to you, so we could determine your motivations for the assassination. Aslan himself sent your nephew here and appeared to me in a dream." Susan could see that Darius had no belief in Aslan from his reaction, but he said nothing.

"There remains one thing we need to know. Who sent you to assassinate my sister?" Peter said firmly. Darius remained silent. Peter repeated his question, anger creeping into his voice, "I said, who sent you to assassinate my sister?"

"Your majesty. I-I-I can't," Darius stammered. Susan noticed a look of intense fear in his eyes. She frowned. He should by now have realized that Peter's bark was worse than his bite so Peter's anger didn't warrant that much fear. Then she noticed his eyes flicker towards Pheneus. He whispered quietly, "They'll kill them."

"Darius, we will send escorts for family immediately if you speak and they will be safe and provided for here," Susan said.

"Susan, you can't just…" Peter trailed off as Susan frowned at him. They stared at each other for a few minutes, like children having a petty staring contest. Peter then broke eye contact. "Darius, we promise no harm will come to your family if you are truthful with us."

Darius took a breath and spoke. "It was the Calormens, your majesties. They wanted to hire me so that you would believe Archenland had betrayed you. The Calormen Varash was the one who approached me with the job offer."

"Calormens," Peter hissed angrily.

"Was the request from him, or was he simply relaying the commands of the Tisroc?" Edmund interrogated.

"He didn't say, but I expect the latter."

"One more question. Why did you show mercy when you could have killed Sir Richard easily?" Susan asked.

"When you called out his name, I realized I had been mistaken about him being one of my targets. There was nothing in my agreement with Varash about whether I could show mercy to others present or not, your majesty."

"You had targets other than my sister?" Peter asked.

"Yes, your majesty. You." Darius shifted uncomfortably.

"I see. Siblings, let us step outside for a moment to confer." Peter turned to leave through the front door, the three others trailing behind. Susan lingered behind, taking one last look at Darius. There was still something about him that fascinated her. An assassin who was also a family man? It wasn't that she didn't believe him, but that she was intrigued by the idea.

"Brother, let us forgive his transgressions," Susan pleaded, taking Peter's hands into her own.

"Peter, we can't simply forget everything that this criminal has done. If we did, we would have to let every criminal walk free," Edmund protested.

"But Edmund, As–" Peter was interrupted by Edmund

"Peter, whether I can find it in my heart to forgive him or not is not the question here. I am not so presumptuous as to question what Aslan has told us and of course believe in redemption. But there are already many talking about Darius who are fully aware of the happenings of that night. There must be some sort of justice, or else every criminal will want their case reexamined." The siblings fell quiet at Edmund's words. He was the Just after all.

"So do you have any idea on how justice can be served while still forgiving him?" Lucy asked, knowing her brother's slyness when it came to helping criminals with lenient punishments while appearing harsh.

"Indeed I do."


	4. Settling In

"Darius, my royal siblings and I have an offer to make," the High King announced as the monarchs reentered. Darius quickly got back down on his knees. Pheneus knelt beside him and gave him a hug.

"An offer, your majesty?" Darius asked, confused.

"You may rise. Sometimes it is preferable to reach an agreement with a prisoner rather than taking a case to trial. After hearing the offer, if you do not agree with it you can still chose to go to trial. We will not be insulted," he explained briskly.

"Since your majesties have promised no harm will come to my family, there is nothing else I care about and I will submit myself to whatever punishment my kings and queens see fit."

"Then let us proceed with the agreement. Lucy, will you act as a scribe for the agreement?" Peter said. "Ed, dictate."

"We, Queen Lucy, King Edmund, Queen Susan, and the High King Peter, by the power invested in us by Aslan himself, have seen fit to create an agreement with the mercenary Darius. In exchange for sparing his life, his freedom is to be forfeit to the throne of Narnia and he will live at Cair Paravel under our watch in servitude as retribution for his sins. Should he disobey us in any manner or break the terms of this agreement, his life shall be forfeit," Edmund dictated.

Darius looked up in confusion. He was a man of action, not words, and wasn't quite sure what all that meant. "Your majesties?" he asked hesitantly.

"Do you not agree with our terms?" the High King said with a frown. He might have said they would not be insulted, but it was clear that he had said that with the expectation that Darius would accept.

"Sire, of course I will. But…I do not comprehend what the terms are."

"It means - Lucy! Don't write this part down – you no longer can live as you wish but how we decide for you. And part of that will be house arrest here at Cair Paravel," the High King said. "And disobeying us in any matter or leaving Cair Paravel without permission will result in your execution."

"I- my apologies, your majesty, but I still do not understand. Staying at Cair Paravel is hardly a punishment, and you four are the kings and queens, you already can command. Including commanding the death of anyone you dislike."

"We are not tyrants like some of the other countries where the rulers capriciously play with their subjects' lives and force them to abide with any of their whims. However, in the terms of our agreement, you cannot simply leave any job we give you and seek employment elsewhere as any other Narnian could. Furthermore, your servitude will not be paid, for you are paying for the transgressions from years ago and for the one you tried to make more recently. Food, living accommodations, and necessities will be provided, but no more"

"That is very generous, your majesty," Darius murmured. Whatever menial or demeaning tasks the monarchs might give him would hardly be much worse than some of the jobs he had taken to provide for his sister's family and was certainly better than he deserved. And food and a place to live. He had expected banishment or lifetime imprisonment as the best possible outcomes, execution being what any other country would have chosen. He certainly hadn't expected generosity. They were known for being magnanimous, but even then he hadn't expected this.

"And as for your family, we will send an escort to them to invite them to live here. The youngest child will be provided for. Your sister, Pheneus, and the eldest girl will be offered employment. All three of the children will be given an education. I'll make sure of it myself. I love working with children," Queen Lucy explained with such as perky smile that Darius had absolutely no qualms about the little queen providing for his nephew and nieces.

"Thank you, your majesties," Darius said, amazed at their generosity. Pheneus grinned at the idea of working and living at Cair Paravel. Darius wasn't too surprised. Pheneus had always been eager to someday visit Cair Paravel and often talked about how amazing it would be to meet Aslan, someone who Darius still wasn't sure actually existed, having yet to see any lions here. Darius seriously wondered how Lisette managed to have such a religiously devout son when she too had her reservations about Aslan and such. Although she did always go through the motions of religion, something Darius had abandoned the moment they had left the orphanage and no longer had to.

"Bernadette, Killroy," the High King called loudly. The minotaurs entered. "Unchain him." Darius had been still chained to the chair behind him. The minotaurs quickly unchained him, although one of them gave the monarchs a strange look, probably questioning why they were unchaining such a dangerous criminal. Darius didn't really blame them if that's what they were thinking. He was pretty much thinking the same thing.

"You begin your work tomorrow. For tonight you are our guest," the High King said unexpectedly. "Dinner will be served in an hour in the private dining hall. Both of you are expected to be there." Darius looked at him even more incredulously. _Their guest?! He was a prisoner, or a servant or slave or whatever. Why the heck were they calling him their guest? Maybe in that other world they're supposedly from all people are insane. That would explain a lot. Including the over-labeling. _

"Edmund, please escort Darius to the room we discussed. Pheneus, come with me. I would like to talk with you," the High King said. Darius glanced at his nephew, but he shrugged, not knowing what this was about.

* * *

><p>"Your majesty, High King," Pheneus began. Peter cut him off by raising his hand.<p>

"Tell me, Pheneus, have you any sword training or such?"

"Yes, your majesty. My uncle began teaching me as soon as he began living with us a few years ago. Before that, my mother taught me what she deemed necessary," he said. "I've learned some sword fighting, fist fighting, and some archery, although mostly for hunting for food – I've never killed a Talking Animal though!"

"I wouldn't think you had," Peter chuckled, placing a hand on his shoulder fondly. "It seem like you've learned quite a lot. I look forward to seeing your abilities."

"Thank you, your majesty. Um, also I… wanted to ask you something… it's kinda, erm, an impertinent question," Pheneus said, staring at the ground. He was worried about pushing his luck too far and messing something up for his uncle, who .

"Ask away, boy," Peter said fondly. Pheneus felt reassured by the warmth in the king's voice.

"Why did you choose that punishment for my uncle?" Peter fell silent at Pheneus' words. After a few seconds of silent walking, Pheneus said, "My apologies, your majesty if I went too far."

"Oh, nonsense," Peter said. "I told you to ask away, and I'm glad you feel that you can speak freely with me. Rarely do people speak so frankly with me, and I value it. Anyways, I was just thinking how best to respond to your question. Although I wished to exonerate your uncle, for in fact in his situation I as well might have found it hard to resist the temptation, I cannot. I cannot simply change the law because we pity one person. And once word of his attacking Susan gets out, Narnians will not feel safe if we let him wander freely."

"I see, thank you, your majesty," Pheneus said, but Peter could see he wasn't exactly satisfied.

"I think your uncle is mainly happy to see that you, your siblings, and mother will be provided for," Peter said.

"I…he really cares about us," Pheneus said quietly. Peter rubbed the boy's shoulder absentmindedly. He really did seem to believe in his uncle. It was a bit inspiring actually.

"I can see that. Now, the reason I wished to speak with you. Unlike your uncle, you are fully able to refuse this job offer and look for another. However, I hope that you shall take it," Peter said with a smile.

* * *

><p>"Friends, siblings, advisers, and guests!" Peter announced to begin the meeting, quickly glancing and hoping that what he said had included everyone. Susan and Ed still wouldn't let him forget the time he had forgotten to say siblings. "We have some grave news to tell all of you and we hope you will all advise us in how to best proceed with the information. Darius, all here know that you attacked the queen. The information about who sent you has not been told to anyone-"<p>

"We're nobody apparently," Edmund mock-whispered to Lucy. Lucy giggled. Peter frowned, but was having trouble not laughing at Edmund's comment. He secretly liked it when Edmund joked at such meetings because it lightened the otherwise very somber mood that often occurred.

"Has not been told to anyone other than my siblings and I. Happy, Ed?" Peter ended sarcastically. Edmund grinned and gave his brother a thumbs up. Most of the Narnians there were aware of what thumbs up meant because the four had used it before. Darius and Pheneus looked confused by the gesture however.

"Anyways, Darius, will you please explain to those assembled the, erm, assassination job offer? And the details about it too," Peter asked. Darius looked terrified until Susan leaned over and gently touched him on the shoulder. She gave him a reassuring smile and he gave a slight smile in return. He stood up and nervously faced the group. Peter sat down and nodded for Darius to speak.

"I was approached by the Calormene advisor Varash who was sent by the Tisroc (may he die a horrid death)-" the room broke out into chuckles at that statement. Peter allowed himself to smile at that comment.

"Here, here," Edmund said loudly, raising his glass in a mock cheer. Peter raised his hand for quiet and Darius proceeded to tell the Narnians of the bargain. When he was finished, they broke out into shouts denouncing the Calormens.

"Peace, Narnians!" Peter shouted over the din. "Insulting the Calormens will not help anything. I invited each of you to this dinner because I wished to hear your opinion on how best to proceed from here."

"Sire, I recommend we attack them right now! An insult such as this is unforgivable!" the mouse Fezzichup shouted.

"Why are you mice always so eager to rush into fighting?" Susan said, shaking her head sadly.

"I have an idea!" Lucy piped up. Peter turned towards her exasperatedly. He would much prefer to keep his youngest sister out of any sort of battle type of plans. Granted, she was certainly old enough now to be there – much older than he had been when he fought the Witch actually – but he still thought of her as sweet little Lucy.

"What is it, Lu?" he asked.

"The Calormens seem to mostly want Archenland and Narnia to no longer be friends. That means the fear that they wouldn't be strong enough to take on the two of us. But that doesn't necessarily mean we are strong enough together to take them. So we can't actually attack them. But, we can use this incident to strengthen our ties with Archenland and show the treachery of the Calormens, which may hinder Calormen's ties with other countries. I suggest we act as though Darius has said nothing to us and our information is solely from the squirrel who saw the bargain take place, so that we would only directly accuse Varash of treachery, but would also be indirectly implicate the Tisroc in the crime. Furthermore, since we have promised safety to Darius' relatives, this will let them believe Darius did not tell us completely of the Calormen's involvement and there is a somewhat better chance they'll leave him alone," Lucy said calmly. Peter did not expect such maturity and wisdom from his little sister. She was growing up even though he still thought of her as a little child. The Narnians all seemed to be agreeing with her.

"Does anyone disagree with my sister's idea or wish to propose a different idea of their own?" Peter asked.

"But just how do we plan to implement this, and do we plan on telling Archenland the whole truth?" Oreius asked.

"If we tell Archenland the whole truth – which indeed may be a good idea for strengthening the alliance – then we should also let them give input on how best to proceed before acting," Edmund said. They all discussed some more and decided to send a letter to King Lune and, if he agreed with Lucy's idea, to then send a letter to the Tisroc explaining Varash's treachery and to tell Narnians that the Calormen Varash had forced a former soldier into trying to assassinate the queen of Narnia. Darius had actually objected, saying it made him seem to much more innocent than he was, but Lucy and Susan quickly overpowered him and insisted they say that. Darius was amazed to see just how much the two queens wanted to excuse his actions. Did they forget the part where he tried to _kill_ Queen Susan? Oddly, Edmund took the girls' side, saying it made Varash seem even more sinister.

"Well, now that we have all that figured out, the official meeting is adjourned, and we can all concentrate on enjoying our meals," Peter said. The Narnians all broke into small conversations amongst themselves. Dessert was served and they all started to wander around to talk with others, which gave Pheneus the chance to finally talk to his uncle who had not been sitting near enough to talk with.

"Uncle Darius! Guess what?!" Pheneus said happily to his uncle. He had been wanting to tell his uncle about the offer Peter had given him. Peter grimaced slightly, assuming Darius would probably not be so happy Pheneus' new job.

"What is it, Pheneus?" Darius asked.

"High King Peter offered me a job as his page! And he's also going to have me go to training, and if I show enough promise, he says he'll consider taking me on as his squire, which means that I could even get knighted! And by the High King himself! It's so exciting!" Pheneus said, practically jumping up and down. Darius didn't share Pheneus' enthusiasm and glanced at Peter, wondering at his motives, but then quickly covering it with a thin smile.

Peter wasn't too upset by Darius' suspicion. After all, he did have ulterior motives. Edmund had suggested having Pheneus be a page or squire to someone that they could trust to keep a good eye on him. It was clear to them that Darius would be much less likely to attempt escape if it were impossible to bring Pheneus with him. Peter had taking a liking to the boy, however, and decided to take him on personally rather than trusting one of their other knights. He did feel a bit guilty though that the main reason was to keep the boy away from Darius.

"That's incredible news," Darius said, the smile not really making it to his eyes. He turned to Peter and bowed. "Thank you, your majesty."

"Well, he does seem to be an exceptional boy," Peter said, possessively putting his hands on Pheneus' shoulders to send an even more pointed message. Peter knew it got through when he saw Darius bite his lip.

* * *

><p>Darius was told to report for his work to Captain Sirius. He was a bit apprehensive about being under the control of that faun. He seemed very eager to use violence against Darius during interrogation. General Oreius, who had told him that he was working under Sirius, had said Captain Sirius was the only captain one who offered to take him. Darius knew that couldn't be a good sign.<p>

Sure enough, it wasn't.

"So you somehow enchanted the kings and queens into thinking you're just some poor, misunderstood innocent. Well, I see right through your act. Don't think you'll get away with anything on my watch," the faun practically hissed, jabbing a finger into Darius' throat.

"I do not intend to 'get away with anything,' sir," Darius said. Sirius shoved him towards the wall.

"Quiet, you. I don't want you here, but I didn't want any of the other captains taken in under whatever ridiculous spell you have the kings and queens and several of their advisers under," Sirius sneered. The words actually had the opposite effect though. Darius had assumed the advisers were being forced to go along with the rulers. He hadn't realized some of the advisers had actually agreed with the ruling.

"Here, take this and start cleaning. You'll be cleaning up armor all day today," Sirius said, throwing a dirty rag in Darius' face. Darius silently took the rag, afraid to antagonize the faun further. _Antagonize him and it'll just get worse. Hold it together Darius. You've faced way worse than this on some of your jobs. _

"Yes, sir," Darius said walking towards where the faun was pointing. He began cleaning the armor. Thankfully cleaning armor was the same no matter what type of armor it was, since most of the armor were strange pieces that certainly weren't meant for humans.

* * *

><p>About a week later, Darius was working on washing the walls in one of the armories on Sirius' orders.<p>

"You have a visitor," Sirius said with a scowl. "She was annoyingly persistent. Ten minutes, and ten minutes _only. _I'll report you for disobeying orders if you go a second over."

"Thank you, sir!" Darius said hurriedly. Lisette and the girls were supposed to arrive sometime soon. It had to be them. He exited the armory and was instantly attacked by two little girls.

"Uncle Darry!"

"Darius!" Lisette called, walking up to him. She hugged him, carefully avoiding her two girls who were now dangling on his arms. "But where is Pheneus?"

"The High King keeps him rather busy," Darius said, a tad bitterly. He had tried often in the past week to see him, but whenever Darius had a free moment – a rare occurrence – when Pheneus wasn't in lessons, Peter suddenly miraculously always had an immediate, important job for Pheneus to do. But Darius wouldn't be surprised if that was his plan all along.

"Oh, he's a servant for the High King?" she asked in surprise. Darius could also detect a note of annoyance. Knowing Lisette, she probably wanted to avoid the royals as much as possible. Well, the next bit of information would really annoy her.

"A bit better than just some servant. He's his personal page. And possibly 'if he proves himself' – which of course we both know how good he is – he'll be his squire," Darius told her.

Lisette gasped. "That's great news." She then leaned into his ear so the girls wouldn't hear and quietly enunciated, "What is he playing at?"

When she pulled back, Darius shrugged to show he wasn't sure. He had a damn good guess, but he'd tell her later if he could get a moment with her. "Lisette, did the messenger inform you of… um… the … what happened?"

"Yes," she said with a disapproving look. "But you were _very _lucky the kings and queens were feeling extremely merciful." Darius instantly felt like a little boy again from her scolding. She then said, "I hardly know why they would."

"_Supposedly_ there was a dream from Aslan," Darius said rolling his eyes. Lisette's eyes suddenly widened and the two girls were looking excitedly at something behind Darius.

"Pheneus!" Lisette called.

"Phen!" the two girls cried, running up to their brother.

Darius inwardly grimaced. The High King had just showed up with Pheneus. _Great, at the exact moment when I made it clear I don't believe Aslan. Just my luck._ He then realized that Lisette and the girls hadn't yet realized that it was the High King who was with Pheneus.

"Your majesty, may I present you my sister Lisette and her two daughters, Helena and Bria."

Lisette's eyes widened and she awkwardly performed a low curtsey, bow thingie, not actually aware how to perform a curtsey. Darius sighed. He knew his sister really didn't like such things. Before she started despising mercenary work, when they worked together he was always the one to deal directly with the rich clients.

Peter took her hand and pulled her up, kissing her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Lisette."

"Oh, I'm not a lady, your majesty," she said, a bit flustered. Darius was pretty sure he had seen her much more comfortable meeting crooks and thugs that she was right now.

Peter chose to ignore the awkwardness of her response, smoothly turning to the girls, who had just remembered to curtsy. Or attempt to. "And you must be Lady Helena and Lady Bria," he said in a teasing voice, tapping each of them on the noses as he said their names. Darius was relieved to see Peter was just as taken with the girls as he was with Pheneus. It boded well for them. "Phen has told me _so_ much about you." The girls only giggled and nodded their heads, uncertain how to act. "Well, we must be going, but Phen here was simply too eager to see all of you. Darius, take the day off of work to go help your family unpack. I'd send Phen too, but I actually need him today."

"But Sirius – "

"I'll send someone to inform him it was my orders," Peter said, waving a hand dismissively. Despite being glad of the chance to spend time with his family, Darius winced a bit, knowing Sirius would not take it well. He already seemed to think the Darius had some sort of magical hold on the kings and queens, and this would only fuel his suspicions and hatred of Darius. But at least Sirius' threat of reporting him would be hollow.


	5. An Angry Faun

Months after, Darius still had managed to keep from fighting back against his captain. Thankfully, doing jobs like, well, assassinations for example, had taught him how to utilize his temper rather than letting it use him. No matter what torture he had been put through during interrogations, he had learned to keep his temper so as not to spill secrets. Here he had no secrets any longer, but losing his temper could still be dangerous.

With all his work, Darius could only spend time with Lisette and the girls late at night and early in the morning. Sirius would give everyone breaks during the day but Darius, saying that losing his freedom includes any right to having breaks. Darius saw Pheneus even less. Last time he had seen him was when the High King sent for Darius, Lisette, and the girls to attend a ceremony in which Pheneus was officially made the High King's squire. Darius had been purposely shuffled to the back of the room, as far from the knights as possible, despite being under the supervision of a captain and therefore technically part of the army. He was fairly sure the insult was intended, whether it was by Sirius or one of the four. But he was happy that the Narnians seemed to have accepted Pheneus as one of their own. The cheering for him was just as loud as cheering for the other boys made squires and the squires who were being made knights and various other promotions and awards the High King was handing out at the ceremony.

Since then, Pheneus' duties as a squire gave him odd hours, but according to Lisette who Peter didn't seem to try to keep from Pheneus nearly as much, he seemed thrilled by every minute of it. And it kept the boy safe too, for no one dared to mistreat him in front of the High King. One time someone made some slight about him being a bastard, thanks to his father, and Peter happened to walk in and quickly lost his temper at the tiger cub who had said that. Since then, no one had. Bria had to switch schools thanks to bullying from her standing up to some girls who said that her uncle was a vicious murderer, but Queen Lucy had moved her quickly and helped her adjust to the new school. Helena thankfully had been unaffected by anything, probably because she was so little. And for Lisette? Darius had no clue. His sister had a tendency to keep problems personal to only her to herself, sharing with her brother only the problems that involved the children.

"You," Sirius called toward Darius. "Have you finished with polishing the swords yet?"

"No, sir," Darius said a bit testily. _Is he crazy? This'll take me all day for sure unless I do a half-assed job of it and its barely noon._

Sirius slapped him hard. "Was that impertinence?"

"No, sir," Darius said, biting his tongue.

"Leave the swords there for now. I need you to accompany the leopard Sir Arianis on a trip to the village to pick up some new armor deliveries. Meet her at the front gate in ten minutes. I would never trust you with such a task if it wasn't my only choice. But no fear, I'm sure if you try to make a run for it Arianis will be more than happy to tear you to bits, especially after you fighting her in the woods," Sirius said.

"Really? I'm standing here surrounded by swords which I could easily use to escape right now but you're still worried I'll try to make a run for it?" Darius said sarcastically. "uh, sir." He added the last part in an attempt to placate the faun. It didn't work. Sirius shoved the hilt of his sword into Darius' face so hard that Darius, unprepared for such a vicious attack, fell over the bench. This was a new level for the faun. Before, all he did was slap Darius at most. Sirius then, much to Darius' relief, stormed off.

Darius grabbed a rag to press to his now bleeding face. _Fantastic start to the day so far. Was he trying to encourage me to run away? Actually, he probably was. Probably just praying for Arianis to shred me to pieces. _

He reached the front gate promptly on time and found the leopard. "Sir, I was told to report to you to accompany you to the village," he said with a bow. Narnians were the only army which included females in their regular troops. Darius was confused to find out they just used "sir" for every knight. Sometimes the females would go by "lady" instead, but most didn't care. Thankfully, Sirius had given Arianis' title so he knew which to use.

"Oh! I had no clue Sirius would send you… ahh oh well, let's be off," the leopard said warily. _At least she was more or less cordial. Definitely an improvement over Sirius. _

On the way, they even began making small talk.

"I heard… rumors that you grew up as an orphan," Arianis asked abruptly.

"Yes," Darius said, perturbed that people were talking about him behind his back in such detail.

"Hmm," the leopard growled.

"What?"

"I… my parents were turned to stone by the White Witch. Aslan later turned them back but… I was essentially an orphan growing up as well," she mused. "It… until they returned, I was generally more aggressive." After that, they continued on silently, but not an awkward or hostile silence.

On their way to the village, Darius noticed a bunch of human men surrounding what looked like a young human-looking lady, although there was a strange pinkish and greenish tinge about her.

"Arianis? Do you see that?" Darius said with a frown.

"Yes… but we're on a tight schedule…" Arianis said uncertainly. Darius could tell that the leopard also wanted to interfere.

"C'mon you're a leopard! Most humans would ran scared just at the sight of you," Darius said convincingly.

"That's not what you did," Arianis commented with a bit of bitterness.

"We can't just leave a lady there if she's in trouble!" Darius protested.

"Why does a criminal like you care about chivalry? Besides, we don't know she's in trouble," Arianis said just as one of the men grabbed at the lady's hair as she tried to walk away and used it to drag her to him. He then wrapped an arm around her as she struggled to get away. Darius started running towards her. Arianis followed a second later. Sure enough, at the sight of them the men looked scared and ran off.

"Thank you ever so much, brave knights!" the lady said with a voice like the summer breeze. Now that Darius had a closer look at her he could see her leaves and realized she was a dryad.

"Might I ask your name?" Arianis inquired.

"Aiyanna, princess of the dryads," the lady said. Darius and Arianis both gave courteous bows to her. Darius had heard about the princess. Apparently despite being under Narnian rule, the dryads and naiads kept their own monarchical structure, something Darius never really understood. But then again, he never had a formal education, nor did he even really care about such things if they weren't a part of one of his jobs.

"Now, my heroes, I would very much like to know the names of my saviors," she said with a charming smile, although it seemed a bit plastered to Darius.

"Sir Arianis, at your service," the leopard said.

"Darius, at your service," Darius said. He noticed a quick flicker of recognition and fear in her eyes at his name, quickly replaced by her previous fake smile.

"Sir Arianis and Darius, as much as I would prefer to not burden such a brave leopard and man who have already saved me, I must ask of you an escort to at least the trees surrounding Cair Paravel in fear of those horrid men returning. Once I'm at the trees, my magic will be strengthened enough for me to defend myself. I can assure you, you will be rewarded both for your brave act and for escorting me if you do so."

"Of course, milady. At that point, we might as well escort you to the castle. And we ask for no reward. We are pleased to help you," Arianis said.

"Thank you," she said with a smile.

"So, um, if you don't mind my asking your highness, what's a dryad princess like yourself doing so far from the woods and the castle? Or just out of the woods in general quite honestly," Darius said as they walked. He had no clue if his comment would be considered rude in dryad culture, but she didn't seem to care.

"I was traveling from my woodlands to the castle as the newest dryad ambassador to the rulers of Narnia. High King Peter personally requested that I be the next ambassador after Lord Liwanu retired to eternal sleep in his tree. Granted, it is rather unusual for a princess to be an ambassador, but everyone involved believed it may help mend the relationships torn from previous… mishaps."

Darius scratched his head, wondering what the hell she was talking about. Politics in another culture he barely knew about. He decided to not even bother trying to understand.

"Well, we are glad to assist you," Arianis said chivalrously.

"I thought you said we didn't have time to even help her when those guys were attacking her," Darius said a bit bitterly.

"I was… mistaken. I doubt the general will be too upset when he finds out why we return without the armor," Arianis said, clearly annoyed.

* * *

><p>"You! You're late!" Sirius came up to Darius fuming. "I was told the trip would take two hours. It's been three! And Sir Lir told me he spotted you in the castle. What were you up to? Spying for the Calormens? Have you just been biding your time here while plotting to finish your job?"<p>

Darius knelt, mainly to be out of easy punching range. "Sir, I can explain. We-" He fell silent as Sirius slapped him.

"No more lies! I may have not caught you in the act, but the evidence is enough to get you on trial at least and maybe then you'll get the execution you deserve!" Sirius snarled.

"Captain Sirius! If you'd just listen for a sec-" Darius was interrupted by Sirius punching him in the mouth.

"No more lies from you! I should deal with you right now, right here!"

"You're crazy!" Darius shouted, spitting out blood. _No,_ _I won't fight back. I can't. I've had worse happen to me. Don't lose your head. _

"I'm the sane one for seeing through your 'I'm reformed' act!" Sirius said, accenting words with punches. Darius put his arms up in an attempt to block some of the blows, but still refused to fight back.

"I never claimed to have changed!" Darius protested.

"So you admit it? That you haven't changed?" Sirius snarled.

"No! I mean yes! I mean-" Darius was cut off by Sirius striking him again. He yelled in pain.

"You scoundrel!" Sirius hissed, kicking him. Darius gasped… it wouldn't have been so bad with a human foot, but with a hoof… "And your family too! Tricking their way into living here and your nephew manipulating his way into being the High King's squire!" He kicked Darius once again.

This was the final straw, accusing his family. He pulled a fist back, ready to punch him. Sirius saw Darius prepare to fight back and unsheathed his sword, raising it above Darius. Ready to strike.


	6. The Mortal Offer

**So I'm also writing a companion story about Princess Aiyanna. Currently her story set before the start of this story with the "mishaps", but it will eventually catch up with this one and some parts of the plot will intertwine. Now back to this story! **

"Captain! What are you doing?!" Susan cried out. She had been returning from a horse ride to talk with the villagers who had filed several complaints about a corrupt judge when she had seen Sirius beating someone. She had quickly rode her horse towards the two men and had seen it all. Sirius paused when he heard his queen's voice. Her lady-in-waiting Liesel and other companions followed. She was suddenly very glad she had not asked Lisette to be a companion for this trip.

"My queen, this villain has been plotting against you!" he cried out, pointing his finger accusingly at Darius. "He is a traitor! Once a murderer, always a murderer. Let me to dispose of him for you!" Darius looked up at the queen from where he was kneeling. His eyes were bloodshot. She felt a pain in her heart while looking at his pitiful face. He had been allowing the faun to do this to him. He fell prostrate on the ground from blood loss. Unsurprising. Most men wouldn't be strong enough to kneel upright as long as he did. She quickly moved to position herself between the irate faun and him, knowing Sirius wouldn't dare try to hurt Darius if it may mean hurting her.

"Nay, you shall not lift another finger against him until _we_ have heard his side of the story! Lady Liesel dear, send for General Oreius and at least two other guards to come here immediately," Susan said, falling quickly into the role of commander. The royal "we" rang in her strong voice.

"Sirius, by the Lion, what offense could he commit that would rationalize such brutal punishment without trial?"

"Your majesty, this villain, this blackguard, he had bewitched you and your siblings, but I see right through him! Just today I caught him in the castle when he should not have been. Don't you see? He is still allied with the Calormens and plotting to kill you! I did this for your protection, your majesty," Sirius snarled. Throughout Sirius' speech Darius merely stared at the floor. _What has the faun done to him to make him so submissive and meek? _Liesel returned with Orieus, Arianis, and Bernadette.

"General Oreius, our Captain Sirius has greatly abused his power as a captain in Narnia's royal army," Susan began.

"I have not! My queen, I've been your faithful servant, doing my duty to undo whatever wicked enchantment-"

"Oreius, silence him!" Susan commanded impatiently. Oreius looked surprised but obeyed of course and quickly gagged Sirius. All in one breath she said, "As his breath of conduct and misuse of power is a military matter, we leave him to you to punish as you best see fit, once he has stood as prosecutor whilst Darius is being interrogated. Sir Bernadette, Sir Arianis, arrest Darius and bring him with us for questioning to test the validity of Sirius' grave accusations. General Oreius, arrest Sirius and bring him with us. Liesel, seek out mine royal siblings and inform them of what has occurred and entreat them to come to the interrogation room if their current work will allow them to find time. Tisell, fetch us supplies to treat Darius with and bring them to the interrogation room. The rest of you, dismissed!"

Arianis walked over towards Darius, but looked more confused than angry. She used her snout to help Darius to his feet and then allowed him to use her as support to stand. Susan wondered at that, not knowing that the two had been together earlier. Bernadette pulled out a dagger and held it loosely to Darius' back, which seemed a bit ridiculous since he was in no position to make a run for it. Oreius unsheathed his sword while guarding Sirius from making any rash actions, but just holding it in his hand was enough because Oreius' skills were well known.

The minotaur Killroy was standing guard outside the prisons.

"Sir Killroy, we require usage of the interrogation room. The centaur Tisell and hopefully my siblings will arrive soon. Let them in," Susan said as Killroy unlocked the room.

"Do you wish for me to chain Darius, your majesty?" Bernadette asked. Susan frowned.

"No, he looks as though he could barely walk, much less fight off all of us while weaponless and make a run for it," she said with just a touch of sarcasm to emphasize her point. "Darius, sit in the chair."

Darius collapsed into the chair silently and stared down at the floor. He had in fact been silent the entire trip down.

"Darius, he didn't cut your tongue out did he? Can you speak?" Susan said, suddenly worried.

"He did not, your majesty," he said hoarsely. Susan walked over to him and cupped his chin in her hands, gently forcing him to look up at her. He looked at her, confusion clouding his eyes. After a second, he lowered his eyes.

"Has Sirius treated you like this before?" she asked. He gave no response, but the flicker in his eyes told her everything. "Oh, you poor dear!"

"I… It's fine," he muttered hoarsely, not meeting her eyes. She knew he'd be being healed soon, but she couldn't help worrying about him. She wished she could have been there earlier to protect him.

She ran her fingers through his hair comfortingly and then stopped when she realized her fingers were quickly being covered with his blood. She whispered, "Darius…"

"A-_hem_? What is going on here?" Edmund said sounding scandalized as he entered. Susan quickly drew her hands back. Edmund kept staring at her with a suspicious look.

"Look at him, he is seriously hurt and needs help," Susan said, trying to explain her actions. When Edmund looked at her and shook his head, she changed tactics and tried to distract him.

"Brother, Sirius attacked and has made charges against Darius here, believing him to have plotted against us and to still be aligned with Calormens," Susan said sternly.

"What?! No, that's crazy!" a young voice suddenly cried out. Edmund and Susan turned and saw that Peter had entered and had brought Pheneus along with him. Susan grimaced. He was way too young to bring to such things. Why in the world did Peter have to bring him? Pheneus looked shocked and upset when he saw his uncle's face. He began to run towards him, but Peter caught the boy's arm and pulled him back, restraining him with an arm. Pheneus stared at Susan. "What did you do to him?!" he choked out, struggling against Peter's strong hold.

"I've sent for Tisell to bring healing supplies for him," Susan said soothingly, caressing the young boy's hair a little. This somewhat calmed Pheneus. At the very least he stopped fighting against Peter's hold on him. "Brother, _why_ did you bring your squire along with you?"

"He was there when Liesel sent for me and insisted on accompanying me," Peter said ruefully with a shrug. Susan frowned, wishing her brother had handled that with more discretion.

"We helped Tisell with the healing supplies," Lucy said as she entered. Behind her entered Princess Aiyanna and Tisell. They had no healing supplies in their hands. Everyone looked at them in confusion. Lucy giggled and pointed to Aiyanna. "Here's all our healing supplies!" Aiyanna ignored Lucy's joke and quite frankly everyone in the room, simply walking over to Darius and called up her healing powers to mend him. Susan glanced at Lucy and quickly realize she didn't just want Aiyanna there to heal Darius but also so she would be forced to be in the same room as Peter.

"But I thought dryad magic wasn't as powerful so far from their tree?" Edmund asked.

"Ed!" Susan protested, shocked at her brother's lack of tact.

"It's alright. Generally no, but my powers are amplified as a princess and have been growing much quicker than the average dryads. But it will still take quite awhile, and the wounds will still take time to fully heal," she said while placing her hands on Darius head to heal the damage there first.

"Incredible," Peter said admiringly. Susan and Lucy shared a knowing glance which Peter didn't seem to catch. Edmund just rolled his eyes.

"Anyways, Sirius, we will allow you to speak now, but facts only, not your interpretation of them," Susan said. Peter shot her a look. He never took to kindly to Susan leading in bloodier cases, but she really didn't care. She was the one who witnessed the incident; she was going to take charge. Thankfully, Peter didn't contest her. Oreius removed the gag from Sirius' mouth.

"I sent Darius with Sir Arianis on an errand to fetch armor from the village that we had ordered. He returned far too late for such a simple errand, and Sir Lir saw him in the castle! He was there, your majesties, and the only explanation is that he was spying for the Calormens!" Sirius seethed.

"The only explanation?" Arianis asked, annoyed. "I was with him. We saw her highness, Princess Aiyanna, on our way, being attacked by a group of men and intervened and then escorted her into the castle."

Sirius' eyes grew big. "But that doesn't explain why he returned so late."

"I'm afraid that's my fault," Lucy perked up. "I insisted they stay and tell me what happened over tea."

"Then there is no reason to interrogate Darius; the accusations against him were incorrectly made assumptions only loosely rooted in fact," Peter said. Pheneus looked up at him with adoring eyes, happy that Peter was supporting his uncle. Peter allowed a small smile for his squire before turning back to Sirius with a hard look. "However, Sirius' abuse of power against him must be answered for. Nothing, especially not this, allows for such a hateful act." Sirius looked at him wildly.

Edmund turned to Darius and asked, "Darius, are there any other crimes Sirius has committed that we should know about?" Darius shifted uncomfortably, as though he didn't want to speak.

"Sirius has been using Darius as a punching bag for some time. I'm not sure how long because he wouldn't say anything, but the look of fear and shame in his eyes when I asked him about it made it clear," Susan said, placing a kind hand on Darius' shoulder in hopes of encouraging him to speak, but Darius only seemed to retract from her touch.

"That's preposterous! I may have hit him once or twice, but only to keep him from trying to escape from Cair Paravel or from snooping around!" Sirius protested. Ed and Peter looked a bit uncertain at these words. General Oreius kept his perfect poker face, not betraying any emotion. Lucy, however looked horrified at Sirius' words.

"Uncle Darius wouldn't!" Pheneus shouted out. Peter pulled him back with a frown and motioned for him to be quiet. Pheneus looked sulky, but obeyed.

"I think we can deduce from what happened today that this is highly unlikely to be true. If you think that saving Princess Aiyanna and staying with my sister warrants you beating him so badly, we doubt any other abuse was warranted either," Susan said sternly.

"Either way though," Edmund said, raising a hand to silence Sirius before he could say anything. "Darius has to press charges against him. We cannot just assume based on what Susan deduced happened, even though I agree it seems most probable. Do you press charges against him, Darius?"

"He's the criminal, not me! He killed my father!" Sirius shouted. Everyone froze. The next couple of seconds felt like an eternity.

"Was… was your father Panbus?" Darius asked hoarsely. "Then… then… I won't press charges."

* * *

><p>Sirius was furious that Darius had dared to say his father's name. <em>That murderer! <em>

"No… no, I don't want to press charges," Darius said slowly. _What's he playing at?_ Sirius thought suspiciously.

"He… he was… an assignment from the White Witch. He was part of a rebellion group against her," Darius stammered. He then put his elbows on his knees and dug his face into his hands. Everyone reacted as it dawned on them what Darius meant by "an assignment."

"How horrid," Lucy whispered.

"Murderer!" Sirius hissed. General Oreius quickly moved to restrain Sirius from attacking Darius, pulling his arms tightly behind his back.

"Sirius, remain calm," Peter said, stepping in front of him and holding him by his shoulders. "I know this is hard for you, but violence is not the answer."

"He sure seemed to think it was when he murdered my father!"

"He's changed. He's not about to murder again," Peter murmured comfortingly, but it was lost on Sirius.

"No! Once a murderer, always a murderer!" Sirius cried out, struggling against Oreius' hold. When the centaur's grip wouldn't yield, Sirius eventually gave up and went limp, crying.

"Sirius… I know this probably won't help, but I'm sorry about what I did. I wish I had never done all the stuff I did in the past," Darius offered weakly. Sirius only glared at him through his tears.

"High King Peter, allow me," Aiyanna said, pushing him back with her hand. He released his hold on Sirius and looked at her curiously. She placed her hands on Sirius' head and murmured something in ancient dryad. Sirius instantly felt lighter and the tears stopped flowing. He was still angry but much less so. "Is there anything else you'd like to add? No insults though, just fact."

After a long pause, Sirius whispered hoarsely, "He tricked my father, claiming to be sent by one of his friends. After my parents gave him a meal, he proceeded to tell us why he was really there and tried to kill my father. I tried to stop him. Just as Darius was about to deal the killing blow I ran in front of my father to block him. I begged him to show mercy, but he pushed me aside. I then tried to attack him, but he quickly defeated me and knocked me unconscious." Throughout all of this, Darius remained crouched with his face in his hands. He started shaking when Sirius spoke about begging for mercy.

"Darius, do you deny any of this?" Peter asked sternly. Darius looked up from his fingers and Sirius was shocked to see that the man had been crying. _It's all an act. He just wants their pity_¸ Sirius reminded himself.

"No," Darius said quietly. _He looks so genuinely upset… But no! If he was, he would have never done it in the first place! _Darius suddenly got up out of the interrogation chair. The room was silent as all eyes were glued on him, wondering what he was about to do. He knelt down on both knees in front of Sirius.

"I know I deserve to die for all the deaths and suffering I have caused, and that nothing I can do can ever make up for them… If you… if… if you want to kill me right now to avenge your father, I will not fight you. And I ask that no one else here try to stop him," Darius said. Sirius stared back at him in shock, not understanding why a coldblooded murderer would offer up his life so willingly.

"Darius, there's no need for you to do this. Aslan himself sent dreams to tell us to forgive you," the High King said firmly.

Darius shook his head. "Even if Aslan is real, he never sent a dream to Sirius telling him not to kill me. If he wishes to avenge his father, he should do so."

Sirius was confused, not comprehending the moment. He had been trying for months to get Darius to disobey an order so that Darius would be executed, and yet here he was, fully able to walk free but choosing to put himself at Sirus' mercy. He heard an audible sob and a cry of "Uncle!" and saw the High King pull Pheneus in close and hug him tightly to restrain him. Pheneus turned in his arms and buried his face in the High King's tunic. In a trancelike state, Sirius heard Queen Susan's voice, sounding far off, say no. He suddenly realized Bernadette was speaking to him and turned to her. She was holding out a sword for him to take. He stared at it, confused. He then realized it was to kill Darius with. He turned to Darius again. Darius looked pained, but not afraid. Almost as though it was guilt, not fear for his life that was paining him. Sirius realized that Oreius had let go of his arms and grabbed the sword. It felt heavy in his hand. _Father, I can avenge you at last. _


	7. A Fresh Start

"No!" Pheneus screamed, pushing Peter away forcibly and running in front of his uncle. He hugged his uncle around the neck, buried his head in his uncle's tunic and began crying. Sirius started convulsing and crying. _No, Pheneus, don't beg for his life. I couldn't handle it if you did. _

"Please no! Uncle don't leave me! Please don't kill him," Pheneus cried out. _I was about the same age when I begged for my father's life. But no, this is different! _He gripped the sword tighter.

"Pheneus, I said no, don't fight for me," Darius murmured. _"Sirius, my buck, no! Run, don't fight!"_ Sirius shut his eyes to try to not see the painfully similar scene.

"If I may," a soft voice pierced through his head. He looked up and saw Princess Aiyanna looking at him. "There is no reason to turn to enacting violence upon one who has turn away from it. Or do you want Pheneus here to become hardened by the death of his uncle just as you were by the death of your father?" Sirius was shaking so hard that he could not hold onto his sword. It fell to the ground with a clatter. Pheneus turned to see what the noise was. Sirius saw the tears in his reddened eyes and couldn't help it. He ran out of the room and just kept running until he was in one of the more secluded gardens. He began convulsing again and crying. _Father, I couldn't. Why couldn't I? I should have. I should go back. I should KILL him._

He heard sound behind him and grabbed his sword in case it was Darius.

"My father knew your father," a summery voice, certainly not belonging to Darius, said. Sirius saw Princess Aiyanna walking up to him. She knelt by his side. "He was only supporting fighting the White Witch because he believed it would lead to more peace in the end. I do not believe for one second that he would wish for you to kill a man who intends to hurt no one any longer. I know you do not trust him, but Aslan came, and Aslan would not have come unless Darius was important to the protection of Narnia. In blood spilt from protecting Narnia, not from revenge, should Darius atone for his past sins and the death of your father."

"Why are you here? To tell me I was wrong for how I treated him?" Sirius said bitterly. "I do not regret that. I only ran because of what you said about Pheneus."

"I understand. And no, I'm not here to scold you. But rather to give you an offer. My cousins can take you in. There is tender woodland magic which helps to heal a heart. Carrying inside so much hate and pain for so long will make it difficult and long, but there is nothing more peaceful then a life of solitude with the forest. There is a part we call Passaic. Sleeping trees guard the way there, so it is undisturbed. Many dryads go there to be at peace. With the help of trees, you too can enter there and perhaps eventually find peace to accept your father's death."

* * *

><p>Lucy was nervously tapping her foot against the ground. Everyone but Sirius and Aiyanna were still sitting in the interrogation room. Aiyanna had asked for permission to follow him, saying she had a way to help him find peace. Peter had seemed reluctant to let her take charge, but she was insistent and Peter had a tendency to give in to her, something which made Lucy question Peter's assertion he was over any romantic interest in her. Darius was still kneeling on the floor, as though in shock. Pheneus had eventually pulled his head out of his uncle's shirt, but was still hugging him. Peter seemed to be half-heartedly trying to get Pheneus to get up. Edmund was comforting Susan who seemed particularly upset by the whole ordeal.<p>

Lucy walked over to Pheneus and Darius.

"Do not fear, Aslan will always protect us. Unless Aslan decided that it is time for your uncle to join him in Aslan's country, he will move Sirius' heart to not seek revenge," she said to Pheneus. Pheneus looked somewhat comforted at her words. Darius shook his head ever so slightly in disbelief. Lucy frowned. She never liked it when people were unsure of Aslan's love for them.

Then Aiyanna returned. "He agreed to travel to Passaic, where I will arrange for my trees allow him passage and care for him. Peter, can you arrange for an escort to travel with him to Passaic's borders?" Peter looked surprised, but nodded. Everyone, except maybe the minotaurs, looked relieved. Lucy couldn't quite tell; the minotaurs weren't very expressive in general. She was surprised to see that even Arianis looked relieved with how things had turned out.

"There's a few knights who are headed that general direction anyways to deal with rumors of a dragon," Edmund said, looking at Peter for affirmation. Peter nodded, so Edmund said, "I'll tell them they have another person coming with them as soon as we're done here."

" Siblings, Darius, Pheneus, Oreius, let us move to a more comfortable place. Everyone else, you may leave. Please keep quiet about what just occurred here," Peter commanded.

"A more comfortable place? What, is an interrogation room not cozy and comfy?" Ed said sarcastically, trying to ease the tension in his normal way.

"Most comfortable interrogation room I've ever been in," Darius muttered. Lucy overheard and giggled.

* * *

><p>Darius sat awkwardly in the chair. He wasn't quite sure why High King Peter wanted them gathered to talk. Especially him. Queen Susan seemed to notice his discomfort and smiled reassuringly. Darius meekly smiled back. King Edmund seemed to notice their exchange and gave them a strange look.<p>

"Darius, was Sirius the only one who gave you trouble these past few months?" Peter asked. Darius started in surprise. _Not expecting that. Um, okay…_

"Um, mostly, your majesty," Darius said. The High King frowned.

"Darius, please don't underreport here. If there's a likelihood there will be more problems like this one, I'd rather know now before it escalates like this one did."

"No one has been violent about it, mostly just saying and threatening things."

"Any likely to follow through?" Oreius asked.

"No clue, sir. I don't know them well. Most everyone tries to avoid me," Darius said, trying to shrug it off to not bother them. Susan looked upset anyways. _Why does she always have to care about me so much? Heck, this almost bothers her more than me. Actually, her being upset over it is what bothers me the most. _

"Pete, I think he should be transferred anyways. Some, friends of Sirius especially, might be even angrier now if rumors of all this came out," Edmund said. Peter looked uncertain, but then Oreius nodded, affirming Edmund's advice. Darius was surprised to see Edmund care.

"Alright. Where to?" Peter challenged, figuring .

"How about his main job be guarding? No one's going to give him trouble if any of the four of us or Oreius are there to stop it. Plus, he'd have an ahhh insider's experience when it comes to assassins and such that might be after us," Edmund said. Darius awkwardly shuffled his feet and stared at them at Edmund's reference to "insider experience." "And we'll be able to, I mean it'll make people less likely to make false accusations against him because we'd have been there." _And you'll be able to keep an eye on me... that's what you were about to say, isn't it? _Not that Darius particularly blamed him for it if that was what the king meant.

"Alright," Peter said clapping his hands together. "Darius, report for training at 8 am sharp on the main training field. Rest today so your wounds can heal."

Oreius and Edmund looked like they were about to protest but Peter gave them both a hard look, and they shut their mouths. Darius briefly wondered why they were so against him training. Pheneus predictably looked delighted.

* * *

><p>After he rested in his room for awhile, Darius went over to see Lisette and update her on what was going on. He was surprised to find Queen Susan was in there, talking to Lisette's youngest, Helena.<p>

"And then Edmund ran in with his sword, and cut the Witch's wand in half! Of course, she was furious, and attacked Edmund so bad he fell. And- Oh! Hello Darius," the queen said. She smiled at him sweetly. If she hadn't said his name then he would have looked behind himself to see who the smile was meant for.

"Your majesty," he said with a bow.

"Oh, there's no need to be all formal and distant like that. I was just telling Helena here about the battle against the White Witch. Are you looking for your sister?"

"Yeah. Why are you here?"

"I… I just needed a break," Susan said, pushing a hair back. Darius thought he understood. There was nothing like spending time with a young child to make one's heart feel lighter. And right now, the two girls were the only little humans at Cair Paravel. "Lisette's in the North Garden. Do you know where that is?"

"No, but I'm sure I can find it, your majesty," he said. _And I'm sure it's labeled. After all, what isn't? _

"Here, I'll show you where it is. Helena, do you want to go out and see the garden?" Susan asked, rising and pulling the little girl up with her. Helena nodded enthusiastically. Susan smiled and walked towards the door. Darius quickly reached to open it for her. They chatted a bit on the way to the garden, mostly Susan talking about the crazy antics of her brothers when they were younger. Darius was happy to let her do most of the talking, loving the sound of her voice.

"And they are horrible at directions and even worse at admitting they're lost, _especially_ Peter. That's why I began labeling everything," Susan said with a laugh. _So that's why! Still seems a bit overzealous to me. But why am I not surprised that Susan was the one to put the labels up? _

They arrived at the North Garden. "What a surprise. It's labeled North Garden. I wonder where I might be," Darius said sarcastically. Helena and Susan laughed.

"Farewell. I hope to see you again soon," Susan said, extending her hand. _Really? You do? _Darius was tempted to ask why, but instead simply took her hand and kissed it with a bow. He then gave Helena a hug and walked over to where Lisette was serving tea to some visiting nobles. Susan and Helena wandered off towards the other gardens.

"Darius, how goes it? I heard some say you were attacked, others said you attacked someone, but I hardly believe that."

"Of course I haven't attacked anyone. Lisette, I've been transferred to guard duty," he said, trying to evade the topic of nearly dying, even though he knew Pheneus would tell his mother everything.

"Stop trying to change the topic and I am proud of you," Lisette said, hugging him with her free arm. "Although training may take longer than you imagine, since you're mainly used to techniques to fight humans, not the varied assortment of creatures here. Phen's been having some issues with that."

"I had some of that sort of training when I worked for the Witch," Darius said, waving it off.

"Over here, darling," one of the ladies called. Lisette hurried over in annoyance, Darius following her. "Is this dashing man your… suitor? He looks rather young for you."

"What? No!" Lisette cried out. "Milady he –"

"It's alright dearie. We know how much fun secret courtships can be," the lady said. The other ladies giggled.

"She's my sister," Darius said awkwardly.

"Oh," the ladies said, annoyed that their fun gossip was gone.

* * *

><p>Edmund barged into his brother's bedroom the next morning.<p>

"Pete! Time to get ready for breakfast before training, sleepyhead," he said energetically. He went over to his brother's bed to push him over, but realized the lump was his blankets bunched together. Peter walked into the room.

"Hey, Ed. Sleepyhead yourself. I've been in my study working on paperwork for the past hour."

"Shut up," Edmund said. Peter grinned.

"So why are you in my room anyways?" Peter asked.

"A million questions. Do you fully trust him? Why is he training with us? I mean, his nephew, okay he's your squire, but Darius? Oh, and the most important question, do you know what's for breakfast?"

"Alert the dictionaries, a million has been redefined to mean three," Peter said sarcastically. Edmund threw a pillow at him.

"Are you gonna answer me or not?"

"So… No, but other than you, our sisters, and a few others like Oreius, I don't fully absolutely trust anyone. I trust him enough though. And for your second question, why not? We could use some change in our training, I know Pheneus'll be delighted, and it'll get us more practice in fighting humans. And why the heck would I know?"

"You would know because it was your decision…" Edmund said, confused. He was a bit annoyed that Darius would be training with them. There were a million – well at least Edmund's definition of a million – soldiers that he felt had much better reasons to train with them who had other training times.

"Huh? I don't decide what's for breakfast."

"Oh, I thought you were still talking about training. Well, let's go find out what's for breakfast then. It better be good because I'm starving!" Edmund exclaimed. Peter laughed and walked down to breakfast with him.

* * *

><p>Oreius was surprised to see that Darius had arrived at training before he did and was already practicing archery. The centaur had to admit, this did put the former mercenary higher in his esteem, especially since the centaur had shown up 15 minutes early.<p>

"Since you're here so early, would you like to help me set up?" Oreius asked.

"Of course, sir," he responded. Oreius gave him some things to do, and was pleasantly surprised how adept and swift he was at setting up equipment. _Maybe having him train with the kings will be an asset after all. _Pheneus showed up about ten minutes early as well and did his regular routine as squire of helping set up.

Soon Peter and Edmund came running, just barely on time. Oreius frowned at them, but since they did make it on time, he said nothing. Pheneus handed them their swords.

"Darius, there's a few swords over there. Use one of those for now, and we'll eventually send you to get your own sword," Oreius said. "So I can judge where you are at, we are going to start with you facing off against Peter. Don't hold back at all." Peter nodded and gripped his sword as he walked to the practice ring. Darius followed uncertainly.

Peter raised his sword in front of him like Oreius had taught him. Darius, surprisingly, just held his sword loosely at his side. Peter made the first move, slashing his sword down. Darius quickly raised his sword and pushed back hard enough to make Peter take a few steps back. _He's definitely got strength_, Oreius thought. It wasn't surprising though, based on some of the stories Oreius had heard about him. Peter continued attacking offensively, with Darius only blocking his blows. Oreius frowned. He had expected the former mercenary to have a more offensive strategy, having presumably been an attacker more often than a defender. _Well, his good defensive skills will be much more helpful in protecting the kings and queens. _After a few more strikes, Orieus realized he had assumed wrong. Darius had been letting Peter attack him so that he could have time to see what Peter's fighting style was and deduce his weaknesses. When he had figured it out, Darius jumped aside and ducked from one of Peter's blows and sneaked behind him, with some sort of fancy footwork that Oreius could never do, being a centaur. As Peter turned, sword raised, Darius easily performed a spinning trick with his sword to make the sword fly out of Peter's hand. Oreius was very impressed. _If he truly is on our side now, he will indeed be an asset._

Suddenly, Darius' facial features hardened. Oreius knew that look. It was the look of someone ready to fight. _But Peter's unarmed! Why did I ever trust that mercenary?_ Oreius thought furiously. He gripped his two swords, but knew there was no way he was close enough to get to the High King in time.


	8. Gaining Trust

Darius used a trick he had learned while he had been a part of the Archenland army and spun Peter's sword out of his hand so it flew off. Although the kings were watching the sword as it flew, Darius ignored it, knowing about where it would land. Therefore, he was the only one who noticed the Calormene assassin armed with a bow and arrow step out from behind a cabinet and aim for Peter. Darius instantly switched to combat mode. He jumped forward to push Peter down and out of harm's way, letting his body serve as a shield for Peter. He heard the zing of an arrow being shot and cried out in pain as it was embedded deep into his shoulder. He rolled off of Peter, careful to still be blocking him from the assassin and tried to pull the arrow out.

Edmund yelled out in concern for his brother and he and Orieus chased after the assassin who was running away. Peter sat up, looking confused, and then shocked when he saw the arrow sticking out of Darius' shoulder. He put a hand on Darius' arm and used the other to gently pull the arrow out.

"Sosha!" Peter called to someone in another room. "Bring bandages for an arrow wound!" A badger scurried in a few seconds later and tended to Darius.

"I'm fine," he protested.

* * *

><p>Susan angrily shot arrow after arrow into the moving targets, hitting every single one. She wasn't even sure why she was so angry. She had been thinking of Darius and considering heading over to watch him train when that Galman Lord, a suitor named Icarus had approached her and insisted on spending time with her. He was a nice enough man, so she wasn't sure why his request bothered her so much. After all, she didn't actually have anything important to do for once – which was highly unusual, even for this early in the morning – and had been planning on wasting time. And he even offered that spending time together could mean practicing archery. But something about it bothered her. So she did what she always did when her feelings confused her: shoot stuff alone. She told the suitor to meet her there in an hour or so, knowing that she would be much calmer after shooting for awhile. As she was shooting, her gaze kept wandering towards the training field where Darius would be training. Darius and her brothers and Pete's squire, Susan reminded herself. She didn't know why she kept centering in on the mercenary. Suddenly she noticed a commotion. She saw a man running, followed by her brother and Oreius. The man had a head start on them though and it seemed possible that he could get away.<p>

"As usual, it's up to the females to save the day," Susan sighed, aiming an arrow at the man, hitting him with no problem.

* * *

><p>Edmund and Oreius returned, dragging an unconscious Calormen. Susan walked in after them, bow in hand and quiver on her shoulder. Peter helped Darius stand up, despite Darius' protests that he was fine.<p>

"He was stupid enough to run past the archery range while Su was practicing. She didn't shoot to kill though, so we ran up and hit him and he's just unconscious. And injured from the arrow of course. Looks like the Calormens aren't even bothering to mask who they are now by claiming to be Archenlanders like they had him do," Edmund said, nodding towards Darius.

_Well that was rather pointed, _Darius thought, a bit hurt. "You never know, maybe he's going to claim to be Archenlander too," Darius said sarcastically. To his surprise, Edmund was the one who laughed the most at that comment.

"Are you both alright?" Susan fretted. Darius nodded.

Peter nodded. "Thanks to his quick action, not a single wound."

"Thank you, brave knight," Susan said, taking his hands into hers and curtsying. It was her way of honoring those who did brave deeds for her family.

Darius felt his face go red. "I'm not a knight, your majesty," he mumbled. Darius thought he overhead Peter mutter something that sounded like "well, not yet" but he assumed he must have misheard.

"Now, we should bring this assassin to the interrogation room," Peter said.

"Feels like we were just there yesterday, oh wait we were. Hey, Darius, you get to be on the other side of things for once," said Edmund, yanking up the arm of the assassin.

"Will you be needing me? There's a suitor from Galma here for me who said he would join me on the archery range in oh, a half an hour or so," Susan asked.

"Be sure to accidentally shoot him," Edmund teased. "Or better yet, wait until there's a few suitors in a line and accidentally shoot all of them at once."

"Ed!"

* * *

><p>Darius was trailing behind the rest of the group as they went down to the interrogation room once again. Oreius suddenly slowed down to match with Darius. Darius looked at him, correctly assuming the centaur wanted something of him.<p>

"Yes, sir?"

"When you were fighting, you were abiding your time to gauge Peter's ability," Oreius stated, rather than asked. Darius inclined his head to affirm what Oreius said. "What did you conclude?" Oreius asked. "Feel free to be brutally honest. What weaknesses did you find easiest to exploit?"

Darius hesitated, and lowered his voice so the kings would not overhear them. "Footwork. With fast and fancy footwork, it was easy to defeat him. He did not know how to perform complicated footwork correctly, and seemed unaccustomed to others using it in the way I did."

Oreius nodded seriously. He agreed with the mercenary's assessment. He himself had noticed this weakness before, but as a centaur, it was difficult to teach humans footwork. And while many of the other humans in the Narnian army could perform footwork better than the kings who had sometimes tried to help give them lessons, they weren't nearly as good as this mercenary. "Have you ever taught swordfighting? Especially footwork?" he inquired.

To his delight, Darius nodded. "One of my jobs, I was hired to teach. Refreshing job after all the… erm… less honest jobs."

"High King, King Edmund," Oreius called to the kings that were a bit in front of them. The two of them and Pheneus stopped and turned back, letting the prisoner fall against a wall. "Starting tomorrow, the first half of your morning training will consist of Darius teaching you footwork."

"Um, what?" Darius asked wide-eyed. Pheneus grinned. The two kings just shrugged. When Oreius began training them, they had agreed to Oreius' request that they give him autonomy in making decisions for their training.

"It'll be different, having a human teaching us," Peter commented.

"Brilliant Pete, you noticed that humans are different from fauns and centaurs. Whatever would we do without the High King's genius insights," Edmund said sarcastically. They got the prisoner settled into the interrogation chair and waited for him to wake.

"I am Peter, this is my royal brother Edmund, and – "Peter began when the assassin woke.

The Calormen snarled, "I'll never tell you anything."

"You probably do want to talk with them. I did, and they were exceedingly generous and gave me a job and protected my family and I from danger," Darius intervened. Peter had looked annoyed when Darius began speaking, but ended with nodding in approval.

The prisoner only laughed ominously and said, "That's just what you think."

* * *

><p>Darius had been mulling for days over what the Calormene assassin had said. No amount of talking had gotten the assassin to explain what he meant. The kings eventually resorted to torture, but the assassin was still silent, and the kings were not cruel enough to continue torture for long. Peter and Edmund tried to convinced Darius that the assassin was most likely bluffing, but Darius wasn't so sure. He realized that since the assassin had managed to break into the training fields with a weapon, which meant that Cair Paravel might not as safe for his family as he had once thought. But if he left and was caught, he would be killed on the spot. He didn't think they'd want to send too many troops after him, now that he had saved Peter's life, but it would force their hand or else every criminal they ever made a deal with would think that the deals are breakable.<p>

But what if the prisoner didn't mean some outside threat from the Calormens… What if he knew something about the Pevensies that Darius didn't? Darius shuddered to think that they, especially the queens, would be dangerous to them, but he couldn't help feeling nervous around them now.

Darius heard a knock at the door. He sighed, calling, "Who is it?"

"It's me, uncle," Pheneus called, letting himself in. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've hardly said a word since that first day of training when the assassin went after Peter," Pheneus said, helping himself to the spare chair in Darius' small room.

Darius looked at his nephew and decided Pheneus was old enough to take responsibility for his family. "I've been thinking about what the Calormen said. The 'that's what you think'. It might not be safe for us here anymore if Cair Paravel is compromised."

"We can't just leave!" Pheneus protested. "Besides, if it's not safe here, then I don't think anywhere's safe."

"Not in Narnia or any surrounding lands. But if we set sail," Darius mused.

Pheneus frowned. "We can't leave Narnia! By blood we might be Archenlanders, but in our hearts, or at least in mine, we're Narnians! Aslan himself came for us. How could we ever turn our backs on Narnia?"

"Never mind," Darius mumbled. He hated when people insisted on bringing up Aslan, especially when they used him to prove a point in an argument. Using someone that he didn't actually believe in didn't really work for convincing him of a point.

"Uncle, please tell me you aren't going to give this idea any more thought," Pheneus pleaded.

Darius looked at his nephew, so young and idealistic. "I just want you, Lisette, and your sisters to be safe."

"We _are_ safe. You're here," Pheneus said, grinning and hugging his uncle. "That assassin was probably just trying to get into your head."

"I suppose," Darius said, not quite convinced.

Pheneus suddenly got up and went to the door. "Are you gonna be here awhile?" he asked.

"I guess so," Darius responded, puzzled.

"Eh, I might come back later to check in on you," Pheneus said unconvincingly. He really was bad at lying.

"Pheneus, I'm fine. You don't have to fuss over me and feel like you always need to protect me. You're just a kid," Darius pointed out.

"Yeah, but someone has to," Pheneus said, closing the door behind him.

About an hour later, Darius heard a knock at the door again.

"Come in Pheneus," he called. The door opened and instead it was Queen Susan. "Your majesty, I wasn't expecting you," Darius stammered, rising to his feet and bowing.

"Darius, do you mind if I talk with you awhile?" she asked.

"No, of course not. It's an honor," he said rotating a chair towards her.

"Sit, please," she said, gesturing towards the other chair after sitting down gracefully. He sat across from her and gazed at her. Her hair was pulled back in a knot of some sort and streamed down her back. She was dressed in some sort of tunic and pants, but the tunic had a distinctly feminine look about it that was irresistible. The pants accentuated the figure of her legs and…Darius blinked twice, trying to forget such inappropriate thoughts out of his mind. _She's the queen. The one you tried to KILL! Get it together!_

"Darius, please, do not be cross with your nephew, but he came to me and told me everything," she said, placing a gentle hand on his knee. Darius froze from the sheer amount of emotions boiling up inside of him. He was both thrilled and terrified by her touch, knowing that wanting her touch was highly immoral. He was elated that she wanted to speak to him, but horrified to know that she knew his seditious musings and annoyed that Pheneus had told her. He was somewhat relieved that it was her and not one of the kings who Pheneus went to, knowing she might keep it secret to keep Darius alive, but he was terrified that she might feel obligated to tell her brothers.

"I sincerely hope you do not leave us, but I also will not stop you from leaving. If you stay, it should be because you want to stay. If you leave, I will do what I can to cover for you to help you be safe."

"Really?" Darius blurted out. "I mean, your majesty, I.. um, I don't want to leave you. I mean Narnia."

Susan laughed. "I hope you are telling me the truth. I was wondering how anyone could ever wish to leave Narnia once they had experienced it for themselves. But Darius, I worry for you. I had not been informed of what the prisoner said, but now that Pheneus told me, I feel your family and you should be moved to a more secure part of the castle. I will arrange for it to happen at once."

Darius looked at her gratefully, but shook his head. "My queen, my job is to protect you, not the other way around."

"Darius, as queen it is my job to do my best to protect all Narnians, and you and your family are Narnians now. And, although Pheneus didn't seem to think of this possibility, but if it is some sort of betrayal from us you are fearing, I promise there is none. We would never betray any of our people, even if they're adopted Narnians," she said with a smile.

She spoke so earnestly Darius found it difficult to disbelieve her. He bowed his head and said, "Thank you, your majesty. I am honored that you consider me a Narnian despite what I have done against your country."

"And I know Aslan does too," Susan said with an earnest smile. Darius inwardly groaned _Why does everyone have to fling him in my face all the time? They know I don't believe in him, so why keep bringing him up like he matters?_

Not wanting to disappoint the queen, Darius simply smiled and said, "Thank you."

"Now, do you still plan to stay here at Cair Paravel?" Susan asked.

"Yes, your majesty," he responded.

"Then, I assume you do not wish for me to inform my brothers of your plan to leave. How about we make a deal?" she said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Um, sure? You do realize you can command me to do whatever, right? Not only are you queen, but there's that deal thing forcing me even more."

"Yea, but this kind of goes against my brother's wishes, so you would only have to go to him and tell him of it to get out of it, but with me holding telling Peter about all this over your head, you won't," Susan said with a smug look.

Darius was uncomfortable at the idea of going against the High King's wishes, but also really did not want him to know about Darius considering leaving, because surely he would then keep an even tighter grip on Pheneus so that Darius couldn't get to him. "Then I'd rather not, but I guess I have to. What is it?"

A wide grin spread across the queen's face. "Excellent. You see, Lucy and I were only trained in combat enough to be able to defend ourselves, and then my brother _insisted_ we concentrate solely on archery, saying it would keep us farther from danger. We want you to teach us more offensive combat," Susan said eagerly.

"Secret combat lessons?" Darius said dubiously.

"Yea, you have time allotted to you for practice time alone, have you not? We will attempt to arrange our schedules and can join you at that time and train."

Darius frowned, but bowed his head and said, "I suppose I must obey my queen's commands."

"Excellent. We start today. Both my sister and I are available during your practice time tonight." She rose to leave, Darius also rising. She then put a hand on his arm and said, "I'm glad you chose to stay."

Darius stared after her as she left, wondering what she meant by that. _She meant she really wants these lessons, idiot. It can't mean anything more than that. You're just another one of her subjects. Not even that actually, lower than that. Get out of dreamland. _

After a few minutes he frowned. So much for the "gentle" queen. That was some pretty devious of her, blackmailing him into going behind her brothers back. Between that and shooting the Calormene assassin, she was fairly… incredible. Not at all the proper lady character she portrayed herself as, but someone more interesting, at least in Darius' opinion.

* * *

><p>"Lucyyy!" Susan called singsong, walking to the secluded archery range where her sister was practicing.<p>

"Susan!" Lucy said with a cheery smile. "Did you come to greet me, or did something happen?"

"I got Darius to give us real combat lessons!" Susan said with a wide grin.

Lucy's eyes widened. They had been trying to get real lessons for awhile, but no one wanted to risk Peter's displeasure. "Really? Are you sure he's not just going to back out of it like most do?"

"Hmm, I might be holding something over his head that he would really not want me to tell Peter," Susan said with a wicked grin.

Lucy frowned. "What is it? Peter might get mad at us for not telling him…"

"Look, do you want the lessons or not? Darius was planning on leaving because the assassin from the other day insinuated that it wasn't safe for his family here, but I talked him out of it. But still, he wouldn't want Peter to know he was considering, well, treason."

"Alright, that's not as bad as I was worried about. And yay! We'll finally be able to really fight," Lucy said with a delighted smile.

"Wait, what were you worried about?" Susan said, confused. "I really don't think Darius would ever betray us… I mean other than when he tried to assassinate me, but that doesn't count."

"Yes, because assassination most definitely does not count as betrayal," Lucy said teasingly. "Anyways, I was hoping what you were holding over his head might be a bit more… scandalous. And involving you."

"Lucy! Whatever are you talking about?!" Susan protested. Lucy ran off giggling.

At dinner, Susan happened to run into Darius guarding the hall as she left.

"Hello, Darius. Hello, Fellin," she said to Darius and the mouse guard next to him. They bowed and said, "Your majesty." Susan noticed Darius seemed displeased that she was speaking to him. She felt hurt. Rarely did any man not want to speak to her. She was used to them practically tripping over themselves to even be anywhere near her.

"How goes it, Darius?" she asked.

"Fine, your majesty," he said brusquely, not bothering to even look at her. Susan was aghast. Usually she had problems getting men to stop staring at her, not problems with men refusing to look at her.

"Excuse me," she said coldly, hurrying out. She went outside, changed into fighting gear, and went straight to the archery range to try to make sense of her feelings. She spent most of the hour until her training time there. She knew she was overreacting, but she didn't know why. After all, why did she care about how one of her.. her servants felt about her? She was the beautiful queen of Narnia who had lords and princes, and even kings asking, begging, for her hand. It hardly mattered what a… a _criminal_ thought of her, now did it?


	9. Falling

Susan hit target after target after target, trying to shoot away any confusing feelings. But she still was there waiting for Darius to eventually show up. She really wanted these lessons, and her anger at Darius' coldness wasn't going to stop her. "Do you ever miss a shot?" an astonished voice said, snapping her out of her reverie. She turned and saw Darius looking agape at her.

"Rarely. So if I'm aimed at you, there's no point in running, because I'll be able to hit you anyways," she said coldly, accentuating her point with another perfect shot.

Darius simply laughed, "Remind me to never get on your bad side."

She turned away and began shooting even faster. Just for fun, she decided to shoot an X across the target. Perfectly straight lines, of course. "Oh really? Then why were you so cold to me earlier?"

"Says the queen known for being so cold to her suitors? That's ironic," Darius laughed. "I love the artistic shooting there."

Susan shot another target straight through the center, still refusing to look at him.

"You wouldn't even look at me," she said coldly.

"Why would I?"

"Excuse me?" Susan gasped, hurt. She finally turned glared at him. She usually didn't boast about her beauty, but this man was so infuriating! She flipped her hair in a way that usually made men stammer compliments. "I happen to know many people, men especially who cannot keep their eyes off of me."

"Oh, is that what this is about? Conceited beauty queen much? So absorbed in your looks that you can't stand having one person not affected by them," Darius said a bit more caustic then intended, for her looks did indeed affect him.

"I have a bow and arrow in my hands and I am your queen. I wouldn't trade insults if I was in your place," Susan said coldly, threateningly swinging it to aim at him. But she couldn't resist the teeniest smile while doing so.

"Oh, well in that case, a thousand pardons, your beautiful majesty and oh delight of my life or whatever it is the Calormens say. _Anyways_, I was on the job, beauty queen. I wouldn't have been able to keep Peter from getting hurt if I had been looking at him instead of where the assassin was," Darius pointed out.

"It's 'O Delight of My Eyes', not life," Susan said coolly, shooting yet another target. Her anger was placated, but now she was rather embarrassed. But she'd be damned if she'd let Darius now it.

"Seriously, beauty queen, do you really think I care about that?" he teased. Susan responded by quickly shooting a target right behind his head, purposely only narrowly missing him. If he had moved his head even a centimeter right, he'd have been hit. Thankfully, he was smart enough to figure it was best to not move despite the arrow coming his way.

"Maybe I should be the one taking lessons from you. That is simply incredible," he said admiringly. "I had my doubts at first, seeing as your brothers' fighting skills are pretty good but not nearly as great as people exaggerate, but this is… unbelievable."

"Maybe when you start giving me lessons in combat I'll be just as unbelievably good at that," Susan teased, warmed by his compliments. Usually when guys were over-the-top in complimenting her, she ignored them as flattery, but Darius seemed much more sincere and judging from his past experience, he should know.

"We'll see," he said evenly. He then grabbed her arm and started squeezing it.

"Excuse me?!" Susan said, scandalized.

"It's fairly possible that you could get really good at this. You do seem to have a decent amount of arm muscle," he said.

"Oh… well, that's okay then. But generally men, especially those of _your_ position, do not simply grab a queen any more than they would say such insults as you have been saying," Susan said snottily. It was rather out of character for her to throw her title around, but he was being a bit too forward with her for her tastes.

"Yeah, but telling your brothers about this would mean having to explain why we met our here. You can't tell them about anything that goes on during our lessons. And I plan to take full advantage of that fact," Darius responded with a smirk.

Susan glared, annoyed that he was right. "So now you think you can just do whatever you want with me," Susan said, crossing her arms, giving a dangerous smile, and stepping forward, expecting him to back down and perhaps start stammering apologies. To her surprise, he stood his ground and grinned.

"Careful there, that could be taken to have other meanings. Wouldn't want people thinking the queen of Narnia is easy," Darius smirked.

"Why, you!" Susan said, lightly slapping him. She tossed her hair jokingly, "How dare you insult your queen so!"

"Your brothers won't be able to jump to your rescue while we're out here."

"Who needs them? I can deal with disreputable knaves very well by myself," Susan said.

"Good point, you have a bow and arrow with you and I've seen how well you shoot," Darius teased. "So where's your sister?"

"We're still a bit early, but she'll probably be running late as usual. Let's start without her," Susan suggest, putting her bow and quiver aside and walking to the training area.

She grabbed a sword and smirked, wagging a finger for him to come fight her.

"Alright, have at me then," Darius said, grabbing a sword. Susan ran up and swung. Darius easily deflected it with a cocky smile. She then swung again and he just rocked back on his heels, easily evading it. She wasn't even close to hitting him.

"Just randomly swinging your sword is not sword fighting, beauty queen," Darius said mockingly.

"Beauty queen? You better not be insinuating that because I'm beautiful I can't fight," Susan threatened.

"Maybe I am,_ beauty queen,_" Darius shot back. Susan glared and swung again. Darius blocked it again and grinned, this time more genuinely.

"Now that's more like it! We just got to get you angry and you're less afraid of actually swinging at your opponent."

"Excuse me? I was swinging at you before!" Susan protested, swinging at him to prove her point. Darius shook his head patronizingly and deflected her blow lazily. "Damn it, attack me! I know how to defend fairly well!" Susan protested, getting more annoyed by the second.

"Oh, really?" Darius smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're being just as annoying and obnoxious as you were during your interrogation," Susan said exasperatedly.

"A talent I excel at, your majesty" Darius said with a mocking bow, infuriatingly managing to still deflect her sword while doing so.

"Attack me!" Susan shrieked.

"Your wish is my command, beauty queen," Darius said patronizingly. He faked to the left and then went to the right. Susan saw surprise on his face as she blocked it and smirked.

"What? Didn't think a beauty queen could defend herself?" she teased.

"But of course a beauty queen could defend herself. Got to keep her pretty face intact," Darius taunted, pushing her sword back with his towards her face. Susan kept her mouth shut to keep him from getting more ammunition for teasing her even though she also didn't want her face scratched, but he then pulled out and did some fancy trick with his sword to make her drop her sword. Darius quickly reached down to grab the sword. Susan then tripped over him and fell on top of him. Darius wrapped his arms around her so he could pull her aside, to make sure she wouldn't accidentally step or roll onto the sword while getting up. Somehow Susan ended up on top of him, his arms still around her and her hands on his strong chest. They were both panting and sweating. Their lips were merely inches apart. Susan suddenly got lost in the moment. For right then, it was just the two of them. She forgot about protocol and being a queen and simply concentrated on the man she was lying on top of.

* * *

><p>Lucy skipped down the stairs. She had actually been ready to be not only on time but even <em>early<em>, but then Edmund walked past and began chatting with her. She wanted to cut their conversation short, but she couldn't make it too suspicious, now could she? If she looked like she was trying to get out of talking with him, he'd ask to many question! Yikes! Ahh, then she finally got passed him, just to be stopped by her dearest friend ever, Mr. Tumnus. She just couldn't pass by him without a word!

Then finally she got out of the castle and changed her outfit to get ready. She ran to where she believed Susan and Darius would be practicing. When she ran in, she gasped from shock. There was her sister, hair in disarray and flushed face, lying with her hands on the chest of Darius who was holding her up around the waist. Lucy took a step back in shock, and then began backing out, to go get someone who would know what to do. Sure, Lucy thought they made a cute couple and had been wondering if they were going down that route, but this was simply scandalous! She turned to call a guard.


	10. A Bit of Fun

"Queen Lucy!" Darius called out the moment he noticed the young girl looking agape at them and backing out of the room. He quickly let go of Susan, giving her a slight push left because the sword was on his right and he didn't want her to get hurt.

"What are you doing with my sister?" she shrieked, pulling out her dagger.

Darius quickly stood up and bowed. "Your majesty, I swear, we just tripped while practicing."

"Indeed!" Susan said, a bit too emphatically. Darius grabbed her hands to help her to her feet. She smiled gratefully until she remembered her sister was still there with her dagger out and quickly blushed and pulled her hands away.

"Your majesty, you were late for practice," Darius said, hoping to change the subject from the awkward embrace she just caught him in with her sister.

"Excuse me, I'm not a little girl. I can tell you are trying to distract me," Lucy said, glaring at him.

"Lu, _nothing_ happened. We started practicing, he got the sword out of my hand, and I tripped over him while he was picking up my sword," Susan explained, finger-combing her hair to try to look a bit more presentable.

"Mmhmm," Lucy said suspiciously, but she put her dagger away anyways.

"Alright," Darius said quickly, grabbing a light sword and holding it out to Lucy. "You'll be using this sword. We've wasted enough time. If you're serious about wanting to get good at this, we need to maximize usage of our few practice times."

* * *

><p>After several weeks of practice, Susan noticed Darius giving the two of them an appraising look while he was watching them swordfight against each other.<p>

"Yes?" she said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"You know, if you were anyone else, the two of you would have no problem getting into the royal army," he said approvingly. Susan blushed and looked away.

Lucy grinned widely. "Really? You mean it?"

"Well I'm not exactly the type to hand out unwarranted compliments," Darius said. "Alright, you girls should start heading back before you're missed."

"Actually, I haven't practiced any archery in awhile and have nothing on my schedule, so how about the two of you head back? Don't worry about cleaning up, I've got it," Lucy said a bit too sweetly.

Darius and Susan exchanged awkward looks. Susan was a bit nervous about someone catching the two of them alone, but said, "Um, alright, I guess. C'mon Darius."

Darius dutifully followed, even though he clearly seemed uncomfortable.

"Darius, do you really think it's so imperative we do not act friendly in public?" Susan inquired.

"It's not like we act unfriendly," Darius trailed off.

"But, it seems only natural I would be good friends with the guard my brothers trust so," Susan said, placing a hand on his arm.

"I don't understand why they do," Darius said, changing the subject.

"You've made up for your past," she said softly.

"I don't think you all realize just how much I've done. I've lied, I've stolen, and I've killed. I even used to enjoy all that. No matter what I do, it could never make up for everything I've done. I know that," Darius said, tightly grasping her wrists.

"No! I realize what you done, and I agree – it's horrifying. But notice how everything you said is in the past tense. That's not you anymore. You still have those skills, but not the hardened heart. And with using those skills for good, you can make up for everything. You must stop thinking that you can't and concentrate on making up for it," Susan said emphatically.

Darius just shook his head ruefully. "No, nothing can make up for it. But don't worry, that doesn't meaning I'm not trying. Anything I can do to just make up for even the littlest bit of it."

Susan, hoping to lift the somber mood, gave a wry smile and lightly slapped him, saying "How dare you!"

He looked at her wildly.

She tossed her hair haughtily and said, "You dared to contradict your queen."

Darius laughed and said, "And now I dare… to tickle her!" Susan shrieked and ran ahead of him, but he quickly overtook her and grabbed her with one arm around her waist, using the other hand to tickle her.

"Darius!" she shrieked, pleased that he was in a better mood. She tickled him back and he laughed. Suddenly he stopped.

"What was that about?" she said crossly.

"Your brother's here and he did not look happy about seeing us together," Darius said worriedly.

Susan turned and saw Edmund walking swiftly towards them, a frown apparent on his face.

"Oh, hi Ed," Susan said, still trying to recover from the tickle battle.

"Your majesty," said Darius formally with a bow, trying to placate Edmund. Edmund barely even glanced at him.

"I'll ask you what _that_ was all about at a later time. Susan, Peter needs you straightaway. You'll find out when you get there," Edmund said.

"Alright," Susan sighed.

"Darius, go find my other sister. We need her as well," Edmund said.

"Yes, sire," Darius said, glad of the excuse to get away from what was sure to turn into an awkward situation. He ran off in the wrong direction on purpose, planning to double back.

"Susan, so while we walk… what was that?" Edmund said sternly.

"I'm not about to be scolded by my younger brother," Susan said.

"Would you rather I tell Peter and let him–"

"No! And besides, what's to tell?"

"You and Darius were tickling each other? You too aren't even really friends," Edmund said suspiciously.

"Alright, he was acting very negatively about his ability to ever negate his past, and I was trying to cheer him up! What's wrong with that?" Susan said defensively, purposely leaving out some details. Not like there was anything inappropriate going on. Of course not. She just didn't want Edmund to get what was definitely the _wrong_ impression.

"Next time, try cheering up with something a lot less, you know…" Edmund said.

* * *

><p>A few weeks later, Susan was about driven out of her mind! She had not one, but two suitors simultaneously trying to take up all her time, her regular queenly duties, and a royal Christmas ball to plan. She would have passed off more of it onto Lucy, but now Lucy also had a suitor trying to take up way too much of her time. She ran down the stairs, realizing she had forgotten about the castle security meeting for the ball. She ran down the stairs so fast that she slipped over some water on the steps.<p>

She was caught by warm, strong arms.

"Your majesty," said Darius. Susan put her hands on his shoulders to straighten herself and he let go of her. _How does he always manage to show up at the right moment?_ "I'm sorry, I didn't notice you there earlier."

"Huh?" Susan said in confusion. She then noticed he had cleaning supplies with him and had been cleaning the stairs. "Oh! Right… Thank you for catching me though." She then hugged him tightly.

"Um, your majesty? Are you alright?" Darius asked, awkwardly patting her with one hand.

"Just a bit… overextended at the moment," she sighed. "Darius, are you not meant to be at the security meeting? Why are you cleaning of all things?"

"When I'm not on guard duty or training, I'm often asked to do other things," he said with a shrug. "And it's not like I really have a choice to refuse. And as for the ball, it seems your brother wants me to serve in a more visible role so he put me on serving food and drinks. I think Peter wants to show off to the other countries that if they send assassins after you four, why, then he'll just turn them into servants," he said, waving his hands around as though he was Peter with some magical wand that turned assassins into servants.

Susan giggled. "It sounds so much more impressive that way. And thank you."

"For what, your majesty?"

"For making me laugh." She went on tip-toe and kissed him on the cheek before leaving. But… it was just a friendly kiss of course. Nothing more, right? After all, no one would think anything of it if she kissed a Talking Animal. In fact, it was rather expected. And the idea of this _friendly_ kiss meaning anything more was preposterous. As he had a tendency of pointing out, he had tried to kill her. But a nagging voice in her head said, _then why do you feel the need to defend your actions? _

* * *

><p>Darius was replenishing a platter of drinks when he felt someone tap his shoulder.<p>

"Ask me to dance with you," Susan insisted. Her smile was so charming it took all that he could to not instantly agree, even though he knew it was wildly improper.

"You majesty, I couldn't," he protested, even though it was a rather common Archenlander song, so he was familiar with the steps.

"I command it. And you would not dare to disobey your queen's command," Susan said haughtily, but with a teasing glint in her eyes.

"Well, I wouldn't dare even dream of disobeying you. Will you dance with me, my queen?" Darius said teasingly, taking her hand and kissing it. They spun around on the dance floor to several odd looks from the guests at the ball. Darius wasn't sure how many were wondering why the queen was dancing with a servant versus how many knew his reputation and was really wondering why the queen would deign to dance with him. He was kinda wondering too. One of the Calormene guests was staring at him with interest and a bit of something else Darius couldn't quite place.

"You dance rather well," Susan said.

"When I have an excellent dance partner," Darius responded gallantly.

"And yet you seem uncomfortable."

"Several people are watching us. Um, including both of your brothers," Darius said nervously.

"My brothers can't be upset with you for obeying me when I commanded you to ask me. They should only get upset at me," Susan pointed out. Darius wasn't so sure about that. He was pretty sure if they were going to get upset, it would be against him, not her.

As the dance ended, he bowed and kissed her hand again. "Thank you for the dance, milady."

"It was my pleasure. Thank you," Susan said with a small curtsy.

On Darius' way back, the foreign guest he had noticed staring at him approached him.

"I request to speak with you privately."

"I have work I need to do," Darius said uncertainly, picking up an emptied plate to return to the kitchen. To his surprise, the Calormen followed him.

"Many find is strange that the queen whose beauty inspires even the dimmest poets would allow one such as… _you_ in her gracious presence, much less the glorious opportunity to dance with one such as she. One would not think that the magnificent High King would permit an active mercenary near his precious jewel, his sister. " the Calormen said.

"_Former _mercenary. I've reformed. I no longer do any work like that at all," Darius said, gritting his teeth.

"Including thievery?" the Calormen asked.

Darius tried to refrain from rolling his eyes. "I haven't stolen anything from here. I would never steal from them. Is that why you're following me? To accuse me of stealing something?!"

The guest seemed to be musing over something. "You have not recognized me," the guest said suddenly, more of a statement than a question. "You and an accursed partner thief stole a painting from my house. I saw the two of you and, in a ill-advised attempt, engaged the two of you in a fight. I lost swiftly and your partner wanted no witnesses. He would have killed me if you had not chosen to show mercy."

The Calormen looked around, and then leaned in close to Darius ear, whispering, "The assassin three months ago was only a ruse. And to see if your taking the position here was part of some plan of yours or not. So just…make sure your family is safe and out of the way next Saturday. And now I've repaid you for sparing my life."


	11. Attacked

"Sires," Darius said, bowing.

"You wished to speak to me privately about some request?" Peter asked, gesturing towards an open chair. Edmund was also in the room, but made no movement to leave.

"Yes, your majesties," Darius said, sitting down. He explained the strange warning the Calormen had told him. Peter and Edmund shared an uneasy look.

"I assume your request is their safety?" Peter said. Darius nodded. "Hmm, I'd rather not cause mass panic by making this public knowledge. I'm traveling to the Lone Islands on Thursday. I can bring the older girl along with me. I haven't selected someone to be a scribe for it yet, and she'll do fine. Pheneus of course will be traveling with me as well. But the youngest and Lisette…"

"Lisette's usually in the nursery most of the day on Saturdays," Darius said.

"It's already well guarded, but I'll have the guards in the halls around the nursery doubled," Edmund said. "That leaves the youngest child though?"

"Helena."

"I'll tell Lucy what is going on. Lucy loves spending time with children. I'll tell her to go visit the Beavers that day or something. That'll keep her safe from whatever attack here too," Peter concluded. "Ed, make the guards around the nursery ones you can trust to keep the reason for the increased guard quiet and tell them to try to be as unnoticed as possible."

"I'll see to it at once," Edmund said, eager to please his brother. He started getting up, but Peter raised a hand for him to wait a few seconds more.

"Let's keep it as secret as possible. We want to trap whomever it is that is sent," Peter said. "But Darius, you have been rather quiet?"

"Sire, I just… thank you," Darius said. "I didn't expect you to be so willing to help my family."

"All who live in Cair Paravel are under our protection. And we could never let innocent children be killed," Peter said, grasping Darius' forearm. Darius bowed his head in gratitude.

* * *

><p>Lisette was working a shift in the nursery that next Saturday when one of the children in the nursery was getting rather fussy. Lisette decided to take him outside for some fresh air.<p>

"There we go. Mmm, little Badger likes the fresh air, don't you dearie," she cooed.

She looked down the terrace and saw three men walking up to the castle gates. She almost turned away, uninterested by the visitors who were always coming and leaving the castle. But then she took a second look and was so shocked and terrified that she nearly dropped the small badger. She ran inside to drop off the badger and ran to find her brother as quickly as possible.

* * *

><p>Edmund was taking a midday nap. He had been on patrol all night, assuming a nighttime attack either before dawn or after dusk was most probable. He woke up to a ruckus outside his room. He grabbed his sword and pulled it from its sheath. He flung the door open and saw the two guards being attacked by three men. Edmund instantly began fighting. He had gotten much better at fighting against humans, thanks to having a human train him.<p>

"Your majesty, get to safety!" one of the guards yelled.

"I can't leave you two to die!" Edmund exclaimed, getting a job in against one of the intruders. While fighting, he realized that the intruders were trying to kill the guards, but holding back when fighting him. Edmund quickly put the pieces together and realized that he was their target. With that realization, he took more risks in his fighting style, knowing that they would shy from anything fatal. But to no avail. He felt something strike the back of his head – hard – and blankness took over his vision as he fell to the floor.

* * *

><p>Darius was patrolling the gardens when Susan and the Terebinthian Lord walked by. Darius failed to hide a grimace.<p>

"It is a beautiful garden, my lady, but it pales in comparison to you," the lord complimented her, picking up her hand and kissing it.

Darius had to resist a smug grin when Susan yawned. The lord probably took it as a sigh of delight, but Darius knew her well enough to know she was completely bored. She glanced over to him while the lord was inspecting some flower and mouthed, _Shoot me._ Darius smirked. He mimed shooting the lord, and she pretended to be overjoyed, until quickly going back to normal when she realized the lord was looking up again. For a moment, Darius felt that everything was perfect here at Cair Paravel.

"Darius, Darius!" a voice shrieked. He turned to see Lisette running towards him, her hair in disarray and looking terrified. Darius ran towards her. Susan managed to detach herself from the lord and ran over as well, the lord hurriedly attempting to follow her, looking ridiculous with his cloak tangling itself around him.

"Halgor, Taire, and someone else are here," she cried. Darius' eyes widened in fright. He grabbed his sister's hand.

"Your majesty, we need to get you somewhere safe!" he said grabbing Susan's hand with his free hand.

"What? Who are?" Susan exclaimed, but she ran along anyways, not even protesting him practically dragging her.

"Mercenaries," Darius said with a snarl that suggested a personal hatred, although Susan didn't believe it was a hatred of the profession. Perhaps a personal hatred of one of those mercenaries? "Halgor is absolutely brutal, kills everyone who might witness his actions."

"Are they who we were warned about? We need to get to the nursery!" Susan said, pulling them in the other direction.

"Your majesty, they'll just attack you too!" Darius protested.

"I've got to go help!" Susan insisted.

As they passed by the guards at the entrance, Darius shouted to them, "Sound the alarm!"

The guards looked wildly towards the queen and she nodded.

"Lisette, stay and give them the description of who they need to look for!" Darius said, running ahead with Susan. After about a minute he heard bells ringing everywhere, warning of intruders.

_Aslan,_ Darius thought, _I don't really believe in you, but all the Narnians and my family do, so if you do exist, please protect them!_

* * *

><p>"Lisette, you need to stay with us if you're a potential target," Pullinick, a dwarf, said.<p>

"I understand," Lisette said, remarkably calmly. "Might I have another weapon with which to defend myself? I prefer a mace personally, if that's available."

The dwarf and tiger exchanged looks. "Don't you work in the nursery? How the heck would you know how to use a mace?" the dwarf exclaimed.

"You might be surprised," Lisette said, still managing to keep calm. The dwarf and tiger still seemed unconvinced.

"Um… well…"

"Over there!" Lisette suddenly shouted. She saw Taire, one of the intruders which she was far too familiar with. She grabbed the dwarf's sword from him and ran up to Taire.

"Lisette!" Taire exclaimed, fighting her off. "C'mon, I don't really wanna kill you if I don't have to."

"But maybe _I_ wanna kill _you_," Lisette snarled. Taire looked unsurprised by her ferocity even thought the Narnians were completely shocked. "Where are the other two attackers?"

Taire smirked. "Getting away. I'm supposed to meet them, but fighting me will only delay, not stop them."

"Will killing you stop them?" Lisette said sarcastically. The tiger was helping her fight now. Lisette wasn't really sure how to fight with a tiger at one's side, but they made fairly good fighting partners, especially since Taire had no clue how to fight against a tiger and wasn't too eager about fighting her.

"Nope, so how about we just stop fighting and part as friends?" Taire said hopefully. Lisette glared at him.

"Not a chance! You threatened my family," Lisette hissed. The dwarf had finally found another weapon and helped fight. Lisette soon had Taire on the ground with a sword at his throat.

"Now. Where are the other two attackers?" she hissed.

Taire's eyes widened. "The North Gate. We planned to run north before doubling back and going South."

* * *

><p>The dwarf stayed to watch the captive, while Lisette and the tiger ran to the North Gate. As they passed some of the knights and guards, they shouted out the information. Soon there was a small force behind them.<p>

"It's damaged," the tiger snarled. "They already got away."

"We have to follow them!" Lisette said, running out.

One of the centaurs ran up and restrained her. "No! You need to stay here. Birds! Spread out in each direction, the majority of you heading north. Send up a cry the moment you spot them."

"Lisette!" a voice called. She turned her head and saw Susan, followed by several guards, running up to her. The centaur released her and Susan ran up and hugged her.

"You're alright!" she said.

"My daughters?" Lisette asked worriedly.

"They're safe. We have that entire area on lockdown right now and all guards are on alert. Darius is with them," Susan assured her. "Some of the guards said there was a brief attack, but the attackers ran away when they realized they were wildly outnumbered. A few made a chase, but the attackers got away."

"We got one of them, your majesty. Pullinick is guarding him," Lisette said.

"Oh! Good, you three, go find them and throw the attacker in the dungeons," Susan commanded to some Talking Beasts.

Suddenly, they heard birds calling. A hawk and a blackbird were carrying a dying dove between themselves.

"That way!" the hawk called, gesturing with his wing. "They shot her."

"Your majesty," the dove called out in a raspy voice. "They have your brother. They have King Edmund."

With that, the dove died. The Narnians all grabbed their weapons and ran out in hopes of saving their beloved king.


	12. Susan's Suspicions

They had failed. The Narnians had followed the path as far as they could, but eventually lost it. Soldiers, birds especially, were sent out anywhere that they might have gone, but to no avail. They were still out searching, but Susan had little hope of them finding him.

Later that day, once Lucy had been sent for with a heavy guard and had returned to Cair Paravel, Susan summoned Lisette and Darius to appear before herself and Lucy and their most trusted advisors and guards that were not with Peter. Susan frowned as she looked at the man who she had trusted, who she thought would never fail her. And yet he did. And because of it, her own brother had been taken. But the worst part? He seemed to know two of the attackers. She couldn't just assume that was a coincidence, as much as she hoped it was.

"Darius, Lisette, we need to know how you knew two of the attackers? Did you have any contact with them about this attack?" she said fiercely, getting straight to the heart of the manner.

"Your majesty!" Lisette gasped.

"Your majesty," Pullinick protested, as he had before when the advisers suggested the possibility. "Lisette fought against the attackers. I highly doubt –"

"Lisette, you knew two of the attackers! How?" Susan said. _Please, have a good reason._

"Susan, be calm. We don't know they were involved," Lucy whispered in her sister's ear.

"My lady, we ... we knew them long ago, and have not seen them since," Lisette pleaded. "Please believe us, your majesties."

"We said, how?" Susan said fiercely. She saw the two of them tremble a bit. Her anger was rather out of character for the gentle queen, but her brother had been taken. This was not the time for being gentle. Usually she had the luxury of having at least one of her brothers there to be the harsh one so she could be gentle and comforting, but with Edmund captured and Peter at sea, she had to be strong and fierce. "By attempting to avoid answering our questions, you leave us no choice but to assume your guilt."

"Your majesty! We… we'll tell you. It's just… a bit… never mind. After our…parents died, we moved into an orphanage. Taire lived there too. First he taught Lisette how to fight, then me when I was older. Then he left the orphanage, and when he came back he convinced us to leave it too and work mercenary jobs with him. Both of us, since this was before Lisette began despising such work," Darius said tentatively, knowing their partnership with Taire was unlikely to convince anyone of their innocence.

"And the other? Halgor?" Lucy asked. Susan shot her a glance, knowing she had asked that to not allow Susan the chance to respond to Darius' revelation.

"Answer," Susan said flatly when neither of the siblings seemed eager to answer. "Just because our brothers are gone does not mean we aren't capable of more… persuasive measures."

Darius winced and nodded his head. "Your majesty, he… he killed our parents. They had accidentally seen him on one of his missions, and when he knows there are witnesses, he tracks them down to kill them. Lisette and I only survived because our parents had hidden us and he did not know we were there."

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Lucy cried. Susan instantly felt guilty. No wonder Lisette had seemed so terrified after seeing them.

"My apologies for bringing up such a painful memory," Susan said quickly, hoping they would not think to poorly of her for jumping to false conclusion so quickly. She knew someone had betrayed them, and wasn't thinking as straight as she might have normally. And losing a sibling always unnerved her, since she was almost a mother to them. But now she realized she should not have acted so quickly. "And we believe everything you have told us. But since you seem to have had a close partnership with the prisoner, we hope that you will help us in extracting information from him, pretending to just be friends talking."

"Of course your majesty," they said, looking relieved that she was no longer accusing them of treason.

"Everyone should be careful though. They did know where to find Edmund and how to get around the castle, so someone has betrayed us," Susan said sadly. She hated to think anyone would, but there was no other explanation. "We need more information…Would Taire still consider the two of you friends?" When Lisette and Darius looked uncomfortable, she quickly added, "I ask this because if so, he may be more responsive to the two of you interrogating him. Asking the questions that we inform you to ask, of course."

"I'm not sure, your majesty. After working with him for awhile, he… made advances towards me that I did not return, and so we left," Lisette explained. "But we'll try our hardest."

* * *

><p>As they were walking down towards the dungeons, Darius hesitantly talked to Susan.<p>

"Your majesty, do you still... doubt us? Do you still believe we had a part in the plot?" he asked. He had been horrified when he realized they were brought before her because she thought they might have betrayed them. Especially since it seemed to mainly be _Susan_ accusing them.

"Nay, I fear I accused you in haste. Forgive me," Susan said. Darius couldn't help grinning widely.

"Of course!" he exclaimed. He almost embraced her, and then remembered his place and held back. It was one thing to be forward and friendly with her in their secret training practices where he was her teacher. It was quite another to do so in Cair Paravel and could get him in a lot of trouble. But Susan noticed and gave him a friendly touch to his arm.

"Of course. You're upset over your brother being captured and not knowing where he is. We understand," Lisette said. The queen had asked Lisette to be her companion on some trips before, giving Lisette a chance to see how close the siblings all were.

"Thank you," Susan said fervently, touching each of them on the arm lightly. "Lisette, it seems your fighting abilities are quite remarkable."

"Thank you, your majesty."

"Unusual for one who works in a nursery," Susan pressed. Darius frowned, wondering where she was going with this. Lisette was looking at him frantically. "Do you enjoy working in the nursery, or prefer to fight?"

"I am quite happy with and thankful for the job your majesties arranged for me in the nursery, but I must admit, being able to fight today was quite a thrill," she said with a faint smile tugging the edges of her lips at memories of fighting.

"I will send for you to come speak to me privately tomorrow," Susan said. Lucy giggled cheerfully, apparently aware of the matter. Lisette looked at Darius, and he shrugged, also mystified. They arrived at the prisoners' visitation room.

"We'll listen in from the secret compartment. We don't plan to come in at all, so the interrogation will end when we send Killlroy and Bernadette in, claiming your time for visiting is up. Hopefully at least some of them will be answered," Lucy said.

As soon as the queens had hid, Killroy and Bernadette brought in Taire.

"Darius? Lisette? They allowed you to just come and visit?" Taire said languidly.

"We had to call in a few favors," Darius lied. Great, lies already. At least his lies were for the right side now, but he still thought he had long closed that chapter of his life.

"Favors? How did you have any favors? I heard you were their slave now. Never thought I'd see the day when _you_ were having to answer to the beck and call of some spoiled masters," Taire mocked. "Do you answer to the queens too? The queens that are half your size bossing you around. That's a sight I want to see."

"Shut up, Taire," Darius said.

Taire laughed meanly. "So they are bossing you around like some dog. Never thought you'd let some _girls_ push you around."

Darius winced. He didn't mind the queens commanding him, but when Taire put it _that_ way…

"Anyways, we thought we'd catch up a bit with you," Lisette interrupted.

"In that case, how about we start with you being married to someone else?" Taire snarled.

"He left me," she said flatly. Darius rubbed her shoulder comfortingly.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Taire said, clearly not upset in the least. He leaned forward with a grin. "So you're single again?"

Lisette sighed, but played along. "Yes, I suppose so. And interested in finding a man who would be a father to my children, but yet to find such a man."

"Yeah, I heard about you having kids," Taire said. "So you are looking for a man?"

"So, what's new with you?" Darius asked, not eager to see Taire flirting with his sister. "I see you're still busy with this sort of work."

"Yep, getting rich while you're slaving away," he said cockily. _Yikes, I had forgotten just how damn obnoxious he can be. _

"Do you need to keep bringing that up? And I thought we were friends," Darius complained.

"Fine, fine. Seriously, though. Help me get outta here, and you can join me in finishing this job. You'll get your reputation back in no time, rather than being known as … this. Heck, I'll even let you have half my reward, even though I've already done the main part of it," he said eagerly.

Darius and Lisette were careful to not look too eager. Darius leaned forward and asked, "So what is the job?"

"Isn't it obvious? The main idea is kidnapping Edmund," Taire said, rolling his eyes.

"But if kidnapping King Edmund is the job, then there's nothing left for us," Lisette said.

"Well, he's also bait. We thought we'd be going after one of the queens, but then our informant told us there was less of a guard on him and that the queens actually were good fighters, so we took him to be the bait instead. The people we're working for want the High King to do something, not sure what, and the more of his siblings they have, the easier it is to get him to do it."

"So there's someone else in Cair Paravel?," Lisette asked. To cover her interest, she said, "Maybe he could help us get you out."

"Nope. And it's a female actually. I never worked with her though, so not sure who she is. Halgor just called her our 'mole'," he said with a shrug.

"Well, who are you working for?" Darius asked.

"Not telling you that unless you agree to work with me," Taire said. "How am I supposed to know if you're gonna just turn around and give them the information to gain favor?"

"Why would we join in if we don't know who it's for?"

"Does it matter? They're obviously rich if they got me, Halgor, and Evon to work for them," he said.

It went on for some time, Taire constantly refusing to say who gave them the job no matter how the siblings asked it. They grew more nervous by the moment, knowing that it would be even harder to get their other questions answered. And there was quite a list of them that remained.

"At the very least, what's the next part of the job? We're definitely not signing on to do something we know nothing about," Darius said.

"We're gonna make them think that he's being held in Calormen, and set a trap for them there," he said.

"But he's not actually there?"

"Nope."

"Then where?" Lisette pressed

"Why does it matter to you?"

"They're probably going to use Darius to help fight to get him back. That'll give him openings to convince them _not_ to look wherever he's being held," Lisette said.

"Well, I can't say the exact details, but we're taking a ship from the Port of Alastbain in Archenland."

They pressed for more information, excited by that success, but got nowhere.

The doors reopened. Killroy and Bernadette came in.

"No, please! Give us more time!" Darius exclaimed.

"Just…. Just a few minutes more surely wouldn't hurt?" Lisette asked.

"No, you had your time. Now he must go back to his cell," Killroy snarled, dragging Taire out. But he gave them a surreptitious wink when Taire wasn't looking as they walked out.

"Remember what I said!" Taire yelled behind himself.

Susan walked in as soon as the door closed behind Taire. She did not look happy in the slightest.

"Your majesty, we tried our hardest," Lisette said, noticing her anger.

"And yet you failed us," she said to both of them, but it was Darius she was looking at. Darius gulped and bowed his head. Damn, Susan was terrifying when she was angry. But still so beautiful, maybe even more.

"The Port of Alastbain –"

"Lucy went to send out our navy and to tell our soldiers to meet them there. But without knowing where they are headed, our navy is blind. And with their head start, our soldiers are unlikely to catch up to them," she cut in. "If we had had that information earlier, we might have gotten to them."

"That's not our fault!" Darius exclaimed.

"Your majesty, we tried our hardest," Lisette exclaimed.

"And no matter how quickly we could have gotten the information, it wouldn't have made much of a difference," Darius said in frustration. "If we had been able to talk with him sooner, maybe we could have done something!"

"Oh, now you're saying it's my fault!" Susan exclaimed. Darius instantly felt bad when he saw tears beginning to form in her eyes, even though that's not what he meant.

"No, of course not your majesty! Perhaps… maybe you should rest so you feel better," he suggested.

"Now you're saying I'm not in my right mind?" Susan cried, inferring his meaning.

"No, your majesty," he lied.

"Get out! I never want to see you again! I thought you'd be able to protect my family and you lied to me!" Susan shrieked, pounding her fists on his chest... It wasn't enough to truly hurt him – which he knew from her lessons she was perfectly capable of – but he stepped back, hurt that she would blame him for her brother's capture. He couldn't help feeling guilty though, knowing he was a guard and therefore responsible.

"Queen Susan, perhaps you should take a short break," Lisette said in the calm voice, putting a hand on her arm. Darius recognized that tone of voice and gesture from when he had seen his sister calm her children.

"Don't touch me!" Susan shrieked, trying to push her hand away. Lisette merely moved her hands to hold Susan by the shoulders, like she did with her own daughters when they were upset.

"Milady, you're going into hysterics. Let me help you to your chambers," she said. After Susan looked like she was argue some more, Lisette added, "Now, if you please, your majesty."

Susan started shaking and buried her face in her sleeves. Lisette calmly took Susan's hands away from her face. Susan meekly allowed Lisette to lead her out. Darius stared blankly after them, knowing he had lost the queen's trust and might never be in her good graces again. And that was more torture than he had ever experienced in his life.

* * *

><p>"Milady, would you like me to send someone to get you something to drink?" Lisette asked kindly after they entered Susan's bedchambers and Susan was sitting in a comfortable chair. After a moment, Susan simply shrugged. She honestly didn't really care about such things right now. Apparently Lisette took that as a yes. She stepped out of the room and found a maid and asked, "Please fetch a refreshment for her majesty. It doesn't matter what it is."<p>

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Susan whispered.

"I have two daughters of my own. This little breakdown is nothing," Lisette said, waving it off. She began searching around the room and found a handkerchief and hairbrush. "There, wipe your tears. I'll brush out your hair. My girls always seem to find that comforting when they're upset."

"Thank you," Susan whispered, drawing her legs onto her chair and hugging them.

After the maid returned with a glass of wine, Lisette began talking again while brushing Susan's hair. "Do you want to talk about it, your majesty?"

"Please, just call me Susan. It feels strange to have you use my title right now," Susan said quietly sipping on the drink.

"If that helps," Lisette said.

"I should leave. I have so much I need to attend to," Susan said, pushing Lisette's hand away.

"Susan, until you are fully calm again, you will not be very helpful and may make unwise decisions. Please stay here," Lisette said. Evidently Lisette expected no answer other than agreement because she had already begun brushing Susan's hair again. Susan had to admit, it felt oddly comforting.

"Alright," Susan said, feeling like a little girl again.

"As I asked earlier, do you wish to talk about what happened?"

"I don't know," Susan whispered. "I just… there was just so much going on. And something about Darius, he … he seemed like the perfect guard. I felt like as long as he was around, nothing bad would, could ever happen. Like how he had no problem in saving my brother from the assassin."

"Susan?"

"Yes?"

"That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever," Lisette stated candidly. Susan laughed blandly.

"I know, I know. It… it wasn't his fault I yelled at him. I… I just… lost control for a moment," she said starting to dry her eyes. "Do…do you think your brother hates me?"

"Oh milady. Susan, Darius could never hate you. I heard about how you helped save him from Sirius. And he said you were the one who seemed to be advocating for him the most when he was being interrogated about the attempted assassination. You're his heroine," Lisette said. Susan had never realized he thought so highly of her, but Lisette seemed to be meaning it. And Susan did honestly care about Darius' opinion of her.

"Thank you, Lisette. You've really been a help," Susan said earnestly, rising from her chair. She then took Lisette's hands into her own. "I was going to ask you later, but since you're here now, would you like to be one of my ladies-in-waiting?"

"Oh… um… I really… don't know about such things, your majesty," Lisette stammered, backing away and curtsying awkwardly. Susan frowned. A moment ago Lisette seemed to be acting perfectly normal around her, a bit forward like a friend or older sister even. But perhaps that was because a moment ago, Susan hadn't been acting particularly queenly.

"You just proved that you are very adept at taking care of me," Susan said.

"Well, yes, but… like… royal duties that I'd have to assist your highness with… I – I just wouldn't feel comfortable. I don't know about such things, and I'm always nervous around nobility and royalty," she said. "But I could never refuse my queen if that is what you command, your majesty."

"It is a request, not a royal command. And as for royal duties, my other ladies-in-waiting are knowledgeable about such things. What they do not know that you do, is how to fight. Even better, no one would expect one of my human ladies-in-waiting to fight like a knight," Susan said with a grin. "Better even, I daresay. They'll _never_ see an attack from you coming."

"Oh! If that's why you want me, then I will gladly accept, milady," Lisette said, returning Susan's grin. Susan kissed her on the cheek fondly.

"Thank you, Lisette."

* * *

><p>There was one way that Darius knew he could win back Susan's favor: bring her brother back alive. He figured it was unlikely they would follow through with executing him if he rescued King Edmund, even if they had every right to. There was a good chance he could get to the port in time. Traveling alone meant he could move much faster than they could once he stole a horse. There had to be some non-talking horses somewhere, right?<p>

"Hello, Darius. Going somewhere?" Arianis asked, striding into the room. The two of them had become unlikely friends since the incident with Captain Sirius.

"Um… no," Darius lied, shoving the bag behind a chair. "Course not."

"Oh, c'mon. It's not like I'm going to rat you out, whatever it is," she said. "But... I might say something if you don't tell me what it is."

Darius sighed. "I'm going to try to go after King Edmund alone."

"No, you're not," Arianis said.

Darius' eyes widened. "You're going to tell them?"

"No. Of course not. Why would I tell them about this? After all, I'm going to go with you," Arianis said with a wickedly eager smile. "And I have another friend who I know will be simply _delighted_ to join us who will make travel much faster."


	13. Going Rogue

Other than the queens, there was no Narnian more worried and upset over the capture of King Edmund than Sir Phillip. Edmund was _his_ human. The idea of him being captured was agonizing. And Phillip had been banned from searching from Edmund, since General Vivina – the only general not with the High King or sent out after King Edmund – seemed to think Phillip would never return if he didn't find Edmund. She was probably right though.

"Pst! Phillip!" a familiar voice hissed.

"Arianis?" he asked in a low voice, walking to the window. "What is it?"

"Don't you want to go after King Edmund?" Arianis said with a grin.

"Of course!" Phillip neighed. Arianis's eyes widened and she quickly reminded him to be quiet. "Sorry about that. But if we don't even know which direction to look…"

"Darius does."

"_Him?_" Phillip asked in surprise. He had heard of the mercenary from the four talking amongst themselves while on rides, but hadn't met him personally.

"Yeah. And the best part is he would know how the mercenaries who have Edmund are most likely to act, so we'll have another advantage. And the three of us'll be able to travel so much faster than an army."

"Hold on… humans can't run too long or too fast," Phillip said with a horsey frown.

"Well… if he rode you…." Arianis said slowly, knowing Phillip was unlikely to take it well, as shown by his snort of derision at her words. But everyone knew that Phillip would do anything for Edmund. "It'll really increase the chances of King Edmund being alive and returned to Cair Paravel."

"Fine. But only because it's my king's life on the line," Phillip said grumpily, although he was secretly pleased that he was going to have a good chance of being able to rescue his human.

* * *

><p>After going around stealing all the provisions a leopard, horse, and human absolutely needed while traveling, Darius began to head towards the training fields near the edges of Cair Paravel where Arianis said she would be with King Edmund's horse who she was sure would go with them. He managed to just barely avoid running into anyone as he made his way down to the gardens. The path from the gardens to the training field had plenty of trees – not with active dryads thankfully – that would make him less likely to be seen. By the time the trees started thinning out, he'd be far enough that anyone at Cair Paravel who might spot him would have difficulty making out who he was. But then he suddenly heard someone.<p>

"Darius?" Aiyanna called. Darius quickly threw his bag behind a bush, hoping she might not have seen it yet. She arched an eyebrow. "That's not suspicious at all."

"Umm.. ahh…"

"What is going on? I only just returned from the dryad courts, but the area seems… agitated," she said apprehensively. Darius quickly filled her in on the details, excluding Susan's suspicions about him and him planning to go after Edmund.

"And…" Aiyanna said, walking over to where Darius had thrown the bag. "Just as I guessed. Provisions for a trip. You're going after King Edmund with a horse… and a…panther? Don't bother lying. I'm not going to try to stop you. But wait for a moment." She raised her arm with her fist closed. She closed her eyes for a moment. Darius shifted uncomfortably, wondering what she was doing and annoyed that he was wasting time. She then opened her eyes and relaxed her arm. As she opened her fist, he saw an exquisite flower in her hand. "Any dryad will recognize my flower and be honor-bound to aid you. Most naiads will also be more receptive to you if they recognize my flower. But if you should abuse my gift to you, you will pay for it."

"I won't," Darius vowed. He bowed and said, "Thank you, your highness."

"Good luck. From what I know of your reputation, you're King Edmund's best hope," she said. "I'll try to cover for you and your friends so the queens do not notice your absence until it is too late to stop you. Now go!"

* * *

><p>Susan and Lucy were holding a war council to decide what the next steps would be, but they kept going in circles, the girls wanting to act and the council wanting ensuring their safety to be their top priority. Suddenly, Mr. Tumnus ran in, saying, "Your majesties! Your majesties! Phillip left! We think he's likely to have gone after King Edmund!"<p>

"But he doesn't even know where Edmund is!" Lucy gasped. "And everyone who was told is either in this room or already left, so he's just randomly searching everywhere?"

"That's not entirely true," Susan said suddenly while rising from her seat, which then made everyone else rise as well. "Mr. Tumnus, find out if either Darius or Lisette have spoken with Phillip at all."

A few minutes later, Tumnus returned and said, "Your majesties, I found Princess Aiyanna, and she said she had asked Darius and Sir Arianis to check out the area east of Cair Paravel. Apparently her dryad magic warned her something was amiss there. She said she does not believe they have had any interaction with Phillip. Lisette doesn't know Phillip and says she's said nothing to anyone."

Susan pursed her lips. "Then we will question Darius once he has returned. In the meantime, Swallowpad, please go find the birds and have them search for Phillip. Hopefully he has not travelled far."

They returned to their plans. With Narnia in the state of emergency, there were plans to be made, defenses to be built, spies in other countries to be contacted. And there was the matter of the "mole" who had been supplying information about Cair Paravel. Susan could only pray to Aslan that it was not one of those in that room.

Later that evening, there was still no sign of Phillip. Susan sent for Darius, only to find out he was not there. No one had seen him since Aiyanna said she had sent him to the east side of Cair Paravel. Susan sent for Aiyanna, hoping she might have seen or heard something.

"If this is about Darius, then yes, he's gone after King Edmund," Aiyanna said bluntly. Susan gasped.

"What?!"

"I saw him leaving. He's your best chance at getting King Edmund back. As a mercenary, he knows their ways. But you could never allow him and Phillip and Arianis to simply go rogue, so they snuck out. So I offered to cover for them so you wouldn't have to send troops to stop them. And that's why your birds couldn't find Phillip. They weren't looking for a horse that had a rider," Aiyanna said. Susan was so angry she felt like slapping the dryad.

"Do you realize what you've done?!" she exclaimed. "What they're doing is illegal!"

"If I hadn't covered and they had gotten caught, their punishment would be just as severe if not more so than it will be when they return," Aiyanna pointed out.

"Yes… and for Darius, that punishment is death!" Susan screamed in frustration.

* * *

><p>"I'm fine with the outfits I have," Lisette protested yet again. She felt incredibly guilty. She had barely done any work the last two days, the other two ladies-in-waiting insisting cleaning and organizing must all be done a certain way. And things Lisette would have never dreamt of being political, such as the way the queen did her hair or the clothes she chose, apparently were also of the utmost importance. And yet despite Lisette not being particularly helpful, Susan was taking time out of her busy day and covering all expenses for new outfits for her.<p>

"And again, I tell you, they are not suitable for my lady-in-waiting," Susan said patiently, sitting at a table and shifting through expensive fabrics. "If people are to believe you are a normal lady-in-waiting and not secretly a guard, you must dress like one." She placed pieces of the fabrics she thought would be acceptable. "

"I'm not noble though," Lisette protested. "These fabrics – "

"Ladies-in-waiting are from nobility. In this situation, the title follows the job, _Lady_ Lisette," Susan stressed. Lisette involuntarily shuddered at the idea of being a lady. Susan noticed and commented impatiently, "Really, Lisette. You need to get over your fear of or aversion to or whatever this is nobility and royalty and such."

"But, either way Su, I would imagine you have much more pressing issues," Lisette protested.

"Enough!" Susan said, although she then smiled a bit to soften her somewhat harsh tone and added, "I need a break from such depressing and stressful work."

"Of course, your majesty," Lisette said, biting her lip. She sat down in the chair next to Susan. When Susan and the seamstress both looked startled by her actions, Lisette wondered protocol breach she had done this time. Susan thankfully only seemed surprised, but the seamstress looked downright scandalized.

Lisette was about to apologize yet again for whatever unknown breach of protocol she just committed when Susan suddenly asked, "So which weapons do you prefer?" When Lisette gave her a look, she added, "I'm designing the dress based on what weapons you'll need to be hiding."

Lisette smiled. This was something she felt much more comfortable with. A few minutes in, she suddenly heard the door bang open and got halfway out of her chair, grabbing her dagger in case it was a threat. She relaxed a bit and sat back down when she realized it was Lucy, but kept a hold of her dagger since Lucy seemed upset.

"Susan! What is _this_?!" Lucy practically shouted.

When Susan saw what the paper in Lucy's hand was her eyes widened and she called, "Lisette! Move outside immediately. This is _not_ for your ears."

Lisette rose and curtsied and was about to leave – rather frightened and therefore glad to leave in fact – when Lucy stepped in front of the exit and said sharply, "No, remain. Susan, she's going to hear what you did sooner or later." Lisette blinked in surprise at the sharpness in the sweet, young queen's voice. She had hardly ever seen the young queen anything more than perfectly happy. Lisette looked at Susan, waiting for orders. If the queens insisted on giving her contradicting orders, she supposed she would have to go along with Susan's, but she truly hoped the two would not put her in that awkward position.

"Fine, you may stay," Susan said curtly. She took the paper from Lucy's hand. "Lisette, this… this is a warrant for your brother's arrest." Lisette froze in shock, not comprehending what just happened.

"Not just that, but she's also offering a reward," Lucy added with a frown.

"He's a criminal on the loose," Susan said, sounding more like she was trying to convince herself.

"You offered a reward for his _death!_" Lucy protested. Lisette involuntarily shuddered and took a step away from Susan. She realized what she had done after Susan gave her a sharp look. But she couldn't help it. She was horrified that her sovereign lady, her friend even, would do this… Especially since Susan had seemed so fond of her brother. And he only was trying to help! Granted, Lisette would not have recommended his course of action, but that didn't mean he deserved death… especially by the order the queen he cared for and revered so much.

"Darius… he knew… he knew that if he should leave this castle, he would be executed. He forces our hand; we have no choice! We offered a much more substantial reward for capture and only the minimal possible reward for his death in hopes that his capture would be much more attractive," Susan said. Lisette flinched and averted her gaze when Susan began using the royal we. Lisette might have been able to talk and beg for mercy for her brother from Susan her friend, but it would be dangerous for her as a servant to argue with Queen Susan her sovereign, regardless of whatever new titles came with her job. She might have the queen's favor for now, but in Archenland at least, questioning a superior could easily lead to a flogging or night in prison if it angered them.

"Don't use 'we' for a decision you made for yourself that the rest of us don't agree with," Lucy said firmly. Lisette sighed in relief, realizing that Lucy at least was defending her brother. If one of the queens agreed, then Lisette may be able to convince Susan to rescind the warrant.

"Lucy! We can't keep making exceptions for him. If this had been any other criminal, there would have been a more substantial reward offered for their death. We have to keep it fair for all criminals," Susan hissed.

"I just thought… never mind," Lucy said crossly.

"Just thought what?"

"That since Ed and Pete aren't here, him leaving wouldn't lead to him being executed!" Lucy protested, but her eyes shifted as though she was lying. Lisette wondered what it was she was going to originally say.

"Without our royal brothers' presences, I'm also the highest Commander of the Narnian military and the two of us are the sole faces of justice in Narnia. We cannot be seen giving excessive special treatment to a criminal, especially a would-be assassin," Susan said, rising out of her chair. Lisette might have gotten used to dealing with Susan as a friend, but when she talked like this as a queen, she was terrifying. Impressive, but terrifying.

"So there's no hope for my brother living?" Lisette asked quietly. To her surprise, Susan quickly walked over to her and drew her into a tight hug, rubbing Lisette's back comfortingly. Lisette was relieved that Susan now seemed to be acting as Susan her friend rather than her queen.

"Hopefully if someone does indeed track him down, they will go for capture rather than…" her voice faltered at the end, making Lisette realize that Susan actually did believe she had no other choice. "If he is brought here, we'll do everything we can to delay the trial and perhaps find some loophole or maybe make another pact that he can make to save his life."

"And if he finds and rescues Ed, that would have to be taken into account at the trial as well," Lucy added helpfully.

"I hope… I hope you understand," Susan said slowly, taking Lisette's hands gently into her own. Politics and such of this sort were never something Lisette or Darius ever bothered learning so she still didn't quite understand why these measures were being taken, but she did believe that Susan would never take such drastic measures unless she felt they were absolutely necessary. She nodded and Susan hugged her once again.

"But we still have the problem of we're almost sure that he's gone after Ed. If he really has a shot at it…and he's instead spending time dodging " Lucy said.

"Hmmm… well, it might take an awfully long time for the wanted posters to be posted. For example, if an accident should occur in the copyists' office. Completely on accident though, like them forgetting a candle in there, or a paper gone missing in the confusion," Susan said with a devious smile, looking pointedly at Lisette. "One of the keys for that room are by my bed. And the copyist room is near the third floor library. And it's labeled, of course."

Lucy caught on and said, "Or some unfortunate disaster when messengers are sent with the copies. The badger Gripplend is in charge of setting up the routes and such. He would keep records of where they are to travel in his room, which he rarely locks, being a badger and having difficulty with locks."

"It would be such a tragedy for a series of completely unrelated _accidents_ to occur, now wouldn't it be, Lucy? But there would be no reason for us to investigate such innocent, unintentional happenings," Susan said in an overly innocent-sounding voice. "On a completely, absolutely unrelated note, Lisette, how about you take the day off to… cope with finding out this disturbing information regarding your brother? And anytime you suddenly need time off for… coping, just tell me."

"Of course!" Lisette exclaimed in relief. "If you majesty has no objection, I'll start working immediately on my… coping."

* * *

><p>Lisette was pleased with how easily she was able to make sure some of the wanted posters were ah… misplaced. And a little accident with some ink spilling on several of the others. She headed back to her room. Her first room, that is. She was allowed to keep the room she had previously to be with her daughters in addition to the small room by Susan's that she had as her lady-in-waiting. As she passed her brother's room down the hall from hers, she was surprised to see the door unlocked. Suddenly the door opened and Lisette ducked behind a statue. A mole scurried out. <em>A mole… it was meant literally. Not as slang for informant or spy, but a quite literal mole, <em>Lisette realized. As soon as the mole was out of sight, Lisette went into her brother's room. Nothing seemed amiss… except for what looked to be an old note on his desk. She picked it up, noticing it was dated about a week or so ago and read it:

_Esteemed Mercenary Darius_

_Tash smiled upon us the day you came to us saying you can ensure one of the four rulers of Narnia delivered into our hands. Proceed with the attack in all due haste. We will await the delivery at the Port of Alastbain. _

_Signed, _

_Axartha Tarkaan_

Lisette crumpled up the note in her hand. It was impossible; her brother never would… Would he? But she would have known if he had been in the attack. He might be able to fool others, but never her. And he would know that even if she didn't agree, she would never sell him out. But even if he was innocent, this note would simply fuel Susan's unfair suspicions of him. She hurried on to her room and lit a candle, beginning to burn the falsely incriminating note.

"Lady Lisette?" a familiar voice said. Lisette spun around, whipping her hand behind her to hide the note and saw the faun Lord Asterin behind her. "Queen Susan summons you… what exactly are you doing?"

"Ah! Um, nothing, sir," she said hurriedly, crumpling up the note some more.

"The note, if you don't mind," the faun said sternly. Lisette hesitated, wondering if she could use her new authority to keep the note from him. But no, that would be highly suspicious too. And most likely the faun still outranked her.

"It's… it's nothing," she said, feeling rather transparent. He would surely see right through her.

"Then it will mean nothing for you to give me the note," the faun repeated.

"I… I'd rather you not read it," Lisette said, surreptitiously trying to rip the note behind her back.

"Then I won't," he said, much to Lisette's relief. Her relief was short lived when he added, "I shouldn't invade your privacy. But in case there's something you do have to hide, I'll carry it to her majesty Queen Susan and she will read it. Unless you have a reason to keep secrets from her majesty? Now, the note." He held his hand out expectantly.

"Of course," Lisette said nervously, handing over the note. "I… I guess I'll go to Queen Susan with you now."


	14. Rescue Attempt

**Thank you for all those lovely reviews. I'll respond to some of them by pm to keep this author's note from becoming too long. **

**For those of you who think I might be making Edmund out to be a bit too harsh, just hang in there for another chapter or two. I plan for Darius and Edmund to have a talk soon... just remember, we've mostly been seeing Edmund through Darius' eyes in my story, rather than actually getting into Edmund's head. **

Susan reread the letter once again. There wasn't enough time to consult with Peter on whether travelling to Archenland was a good idea or not. She sorely wished that Lune hadn't sent a letter asking her to travel there now of all times. To refuse King Lune could endanger their treaty and cause suspicions about why Narnia was reluctant to send her to Archenland. She had managed to hide Edmund's capture from the foreigners at court, knowing some of the other courts would be likely to take advantage of their weakness should they find out.

"Your majesty," a faun named Lord Asterin said, bowing and holding a letter out in his hand. "When I went to fetch Lady Lisette as you instructed me, I found that she was burning this letter. Her actions seemed suspicious, so I brought the letter for you to read since Lisette seemed insistent that I do not read it."

"Very well," Susan said, accepting the letter. "Thank you and please leave us."

As he bowed and left, Lisette stepped forward and curtsied, keeping her eyes downcast. Susan found this even more suspicious, even though she wanted to believe the faun was simply being overzealous. She smoothed it out and placed in on the desk. It read:

_******** **rcenary Darius _

_T**h **iled **** us the day you **** to ** s********* ****** one of the **ur ****** ** ****** delivered in** o*r h***s. P***e*d with the a**ack in***l due h***e. *e will a**** the de****r* at the P*** of Alast****. _

_Signed, _

_****** *****an_

"What is this, Lisette?" Susan said, pursing her lips when she realized the part at the end beginning "Alast" before being cut off must refer to the Port of Alastbain.

Lisette had moved in to where she could read the letter as well and seemed to be looking it over. "Your majesty, it's… a letter from an old friend who lived down the street from us," she said slowly. "His name was Peridan." She pointed at the "an" part of the signature.

"Peridan? As in, Lord Peridan?" Susan asked, raising an eyebrow. She did remember hearing about how there was a suspicious line of deaths in one family which lead to a boy raised as a commoner suddenly becoming the heir to the lordship over lands in the city of Braun in Archenland.

"Lord?" Lisette said with a frown.

"Peridan, son of Ibram?" Susan prodded. Lisette nodded, looking taken aback. "So why was he talking about the Port of Alastbain?" Lisette looked even more flustered once Susan asked that question.

"Um, ahh, he was asking Darius if he wanted to meet up… and that's the port nearest to Braun and sea travel's easier. I guess he didn't know Darius couldn't travel out of Cair Paravel, milady."

Susan nodded. So far, what Lisette was saying made sense, but… "Then why did you burn the letter?"

Lisette's face began turning red and she busily looked anywhere but towards Susan. Susan stood and cupped Lisette's chin in her hand, forcing her to look her in the eye. Susan knew that lying was more difficult with eye contact. "Why did you burn the letter?" she enunciated.

"I … I…" Lisette began, panic in her eyes. She then took a deep breath and said, "I was insulted he would contact my brother and not me. I had… I had an unrequited crush on him when I was little and I guess the feelings never fully disappeared."

Susan bit her lip, unsure whether this was true or not. Lisette didn't seem impulsive enough to do such things, but Susan had been quickly realizing how little she knew about Lisette and Darius.

"Very well," Susan said, deciding to give her the benefit of the doubt for now at least. "I summoned you here because your position as a secret bodyguard may be tested soon. I may need to travel to Archenland and if so, you will accompany me under the guise of being my lady-in-waiting only. Just in case, I want you to spend all of your time right now training. I can't bring as large of a guard as I would like since we need troops here and so many of them are out trying to rescue my brother. And we also can't look like we have something we're worried about."

"I understand. As for the other thing I've been doing…" Lisette trailed off, not wanting to anger Susan.

"If he's as good as his reputation says he is, then he's easily in Archenland by now, and I purposely arranged for the wanted posters to be hung in Narnia only," Susan said. Lisette smiled thinly. "Now please, bring this letter to Sir Richard. I figured since the only threats I may encounter in Archenland should be human, it would be best for you to practice with another human. And here's another letter for you to bring to Lady Alia. She's an Archenlander lady who we can trust and she'll be training you in the ways of court so you can actually pass for being a lady-in-waiting. As long as you don't keep getting nervous the moment anything remotely connected to nobility comes up. Even if I decide to not go to Archenland after all, the training will be necessary eventually anyways."

"Yes, your majesty," Lisette said, backing out of the room. Susan turned the burnt letter over in her hands one more time. There was just something off about that conversation which made Susan wonder if she should be trusting her lady-in-waiting who seemed to have such an unknown past.

* * *

><p>Darius tethered Phillip to a pole. He leaned in and whispered, "I really, really am sorry about this."<p>

Phillip remained silent, already pretending to be a dumb animal. Archenlanders generally accepted Talking Animals, but they were still a rarity and caused commotions by curious passerbys. They didn't want to waste time with such nor did they want to be remembered and possibly followed.

"Hey, you!" a voice called. "You run off with your master's horse?" Darius turned and saw an Archenlander guard facing him. Darius winced. It would be quite a stretch to claim that Phillip was his horse, when he clearly belonged to at least a minor lord. In a country where horses belonged to owners that is. He had figured this would be a problem in Archenland, but hadn't thought it would be a problem at the very first village they came to. And the guard was ironically close to the truth with his statement.

"No, sir. He… he was a present," Darius lied. His clothes would clearly show that he could never afford such a horse himself.

The guard looked him up and down suspiciously. "Who's your master?"

"Earl of Edington," Darius lied. He hoped that the guard wouldn't bother checking his story.

"Alright," he said, much to Darius relief. "Well, get on with it."

Darius nodded and quickly ducked inside the tavern. He saw Phillip giving him a look of sympathy as he left. Not that he really cared being mistaken for a slave or servant… not much at least… ah, well he just didn't have time to spend being upset over such things.

Since leaving Narnia, there had been several less trees so Aiyanna's blossom wasn't as helpful anymore. He told Arianis and Phillip that he could try getting information from a tavern. Drunken men were always a surprisingly good source of information.

Suddenly he heard a chuckle behind him. "Darius?"

He turned and grinned who he saw who it was. "Cavisham. Surely you could help me with some information."

"Well, I can certainly try. What's it this time? Last I heard, you were a lackey of the High King's. Not that I believed that, but so many sources said the same thing."

"Eh, I have been working for him, yes," Darius said awkwardly, hoping he wouldn't press the issue. But was his working for Narnia really the biggest gossip going around? First Taire, now him.

"Really. Are you here on a job for him right now?"

"Not exactly. But listen, what do you know about the mercenary Halgor's whereabouts?" he asked, leaning forward.

"The one who killed your parents? I think I need a drink before I'll be stupid enough to just give you such information," he said with a wink. Darius went ahead and bought him a drink, even though he didn't really have the money to spend. But knowing Cavisham, Darius was getting quite a deal since his information tended to be expensive. Darius had helped Cavisham out of jail once during one of his jobs and since then had always gotten good rates from him.

"So… he _did _pass through here. Just the other day in fact," Cavisham said after a long drink. "He had a wagon with what seemed to be trading goods, but anyone who knows his reputation knows he would never be _trading_ of all things. So I checked it out. Someone else was guarding the wagon so I just looked and didn't get close enough to let him see me. He thought he was alone and lifted a blanket and there was an unconscious person underneath."

"Did you get a look at that person?"

"Not a good one. Dark hair. Young man. He drugged the man and put the blanket back. I figured information about this might be worth something so I did some snooping to find out where they were headed."

"Port of Alastbain?" Darius asked flatly.

"Damn, I was going to hold that information out for another drink. But yes, that's where they were headed in the end. But tonight they planned to rest at Braun."

"Thanks," Darius said. "I need to leave now."

"Ah, but I wanted to catch up! So much has happened since I last saw you."

"You mean you want to see what information you could get out of me about the workings of Cair Paravel," Darius said, amused.

"You know me," he said with a grin, lifting his drink in a mock salute. Darius nodded and headed out.

"We need to meet up with Arianis again and head to Braun as fast as possible," Darius whispered to Phillip, leaning down while untying him so that no one would see him talking to a supposedly mute horse.

Phillip neighed which Darius took to be a yes. They galloped out as fast as they could and Arianis joined them at the outskirts of the town.

"Braun. They'll be there tonight," Darius said.

"If we run all night we can be there in the morning and catch them sleeping," Arianis said with a growl. They kept silent as they travelled, not wanting to waste any breath with talking when they had to run as fast as they could.

They arrived when the first light of dawn was appearing.

"It's dark enough that I can simply hide in the shadows," Arianis said, refusing to stay outside of town when a fight may by soon on the way. Darius dismounted from Phillip since they were walking anyways, not wanting to miss any clues they might find.

"We should try the inns. My friend I got this information from said they were posing as traders which means they could stay at an inn without being suspicious," Darius said.

The first inn they came across they found nothing helpful. While it was possible they were there, it didn't seem likely so they moved on since they needed to try all of them in a very short time. The next one they checked out was full, but they also could seem to find any hint of them. The third one Darius got information that two men had checked in and one of them fit the description of Halgor. He stole the paper that mapped out the rooms and rejoined Arianis and Phillip.

"I believe that Arandin and Reind are false names for them. They're in this room here. It's on the first floor and there's a back door to the hallway they're in over here," he whispered, holding a lantern – also stolen – so they could see the map.

"Do we have a plan?" Phillip asked. They all looked at each other, but no one seemed to have any brilliant ideas.

"There's a window. I can break in and maybe we'll get lucky and I can just slit their throats," Darius said. He realized a bit too late that Phillip and Arianis weren't comfortable with that idea. It did sound a bit sinister when he thought about it, but he had done it often before.

"Go ahead, try it," Arianis said. Darius glanced at Phillip who nodded. Darius went around to the back and started using his dagger to pry the window open. He climbed through silently and saw them sleeping there. He felt a rush of anticipation. He'd have the chance to avenge his parents' murder.

"Darius," a weak voice whispered. Darius turned and saw Edmund tied up in the corner. Darius could tell he was drugged and just barely conscious. Darius walked over and knelt down by him.

"You… you're with them?" Edmund said, his voice still weak, but strong enough to sound suspicious.

Darius drew back, stung by Edmund's suspicions. He knew Edmund had always been keeping a careful eye on him, but had yet to directly accuse him of being disloyal and certainly anything as treacherous as siding with their enemies. He shook his head and began working on cutting the ropes. Edmund watched him silently.

"Arianis and Phillip are by the back door," Darius whispered. Edmund nodded weakly, seeming to have decided to trust him. Darius couldn't leave without avenging his parents though. He glanced back at the sleeping mercenaries and his grip on his dagger tightened.

Edmund must have noticed, for he asked, "What are you doing?"

"That one killed my parents," Darius said, his voice growing recklessly louder from anger.

"Don't," Edmund said, his head falling back against the wall. Darius looked at him incredulously. Edmund continued, "Sirius let you go even though you killed his parents. Do the same. Revenge here will only lead to the other one fighting back."

Darius bit his lip. "I'm sorry, sire." He grabbed his dagger again and stalked over to the mercenary. He clenched the dagger, seeing red as his anger grew. But then he looked back and saw Edmund. He looked… disappointed with him. And almost… pity? Darius didn't know what to make of it. Darius turned back to Halgor once again. It would be far too easy to kill him now. Darius was surprised at how easy it was quite frankly, but then again, they didn't think anyone would be able to follow them. He wanted so sorely to kill him right then and there. But something about Edmund's stare was stopping him. He didn't understand why Edmund would be disappointed. He thought Edmund never trusted him in the first place. He of all people shouldn't be surprised that Darius could kill. He had acted before like he was simply waiting for Darius to do something wrong. Darius pulled the dagger back, ready to strike. His mind suddenly flashed back to holding a sword over Queen Susan.

His arm fell back to his side. Susan… she'd be so furious. Edmund was right. Killing him would make noise and make it more difficult for them to escape. And Susan would never forgive him if he didn't come back with her brother safely. Especially if he endangered him for something as dark as revenge. He turned back to King Edmund and picked him up, knowing it would be faster than Edmund struggling to walk on his own. He was surprised to see that Edmund's expression was more admiring than admonishing. He had thought the king would be angry with him for almost giving in. He silently opened the door and walked out, quickly hurrying to the back door. "You aren't angry with me, sire?" he whispered.

"Not many could come that close to temptation and not give in," he whispered back. Darius pondered what he meant by that. He opened the back door and helped Edmund onto Phillip who had been nervously waiting.

"Thank Aslan you're safe!" Philip exclaimed, a bit too loudly. Darius and Arianis quickly hushed him. They left as quickly as they could with an injured person. They thought they were free from the mercenaries having any chance of finding them.

Just at the border of the town, soldiers suddenly surrounded them, far too many to fight.

"Hands on your heads!" the captain shouted. Darius slowly turned and placed his hands on his head. Edmund feebly climbed off of Phillip and leaned against him, hands on his head. Phillip and Arianis wisely kept silent and acting like dumb animals.

"What are we being arrested for, sir?" Edmund said, the picture of submission. Darius realized he didn't want these soldiers knowing he was the king of Narnia.

"These traders here say you stole from them," he said, gesturing to two men behind him. Darius gulped as he realized it was Halgor and the other mercenary, looking triumphant.

"And they seem to have hidden or already handed off our goods," Halgor hissed.

The captain frowned. "Without goods to repay you with, this becomes a crime punishable by death. Bring them to the prison, men. They'll hang by the end of the week, I'm sure."


	15. On Trial

**Pevensies49... you guessed it right! That's exactly where this was going(: And I'm glad you thought his actions were accurate in the last chapter. I spent a lot of time debating over whether he should kill him or not. **

**I also finally gave Edmund and Darius a chance to talk it out as I promised earlier. Hopefully I figured out Edmund's character right, although I'm a bit worried about that.  
><strong>

"Lisette," Susan asked softly. "You seem distracted." In fact, her lady-in-waiting had been gazing out of the carriage opening the entire ride so far. She wasn't particularly talkative, but this was unusually quiet.

"Oh! Forgive me, your majesty," she said. "Did you need something?"

"No… But I would like to know what is weighing on your mind," Susan said.

"I… I'm just nervous about my brother. We know he found your royal brother, but that doesn't mean they are safe," Lisette said. Princess Aiyanna had told them before leaving that her blossom that she had given Darius allowed her to know that he had found Edmund. She had attempted explaining it, but there was too much that Susan hadn't understood so she just took her word for it. Aiyanna had also given her a petal that would lead them to the blossom and therefore Edmund. When held up, it always bent in the direction they needed to travel to get to the blossom.

"No it doesn't, but I'm also not convinced that your brother is entirely what has you so distracted," Susan pressed.

"I worry about my girls when I'm not near them. I'm now a bit more used to Pheneus being gone, but I'm rarely away from my girls this long," Lisette said, although she didn't quite meet Susan's eyes while saying it.

"Very well," Susan said, dropping the matter since it seemed to be leading nowhere.

"My lady?" Lisette said suddenly. "I've never quite understood the concept of Aslan. Is… is he always right?"

"Yes, of course," Susan answered. "He knows everything and is always good."

"Hmm," Lisette said, gazing out the door again, lost in thought.

"But why do you ask?"

"Just wondering," she responded a bit too quickly. "Um, some Archenlanders view Aslan differently. Those that believe in him that is."

"Huh," Susan said, not quite knowing what to make of that question. "Anyways, listen. I've been getting worried too. If Edmund was safe, then he'd have managed to find some way to contact us. No clue how, but he's smart; he'd have found a way. So now that we're about to pass into Archenland and two humans aren't as unusual and suspicious, I want to sneak off to find them. I will decide tonight whom of our party will be accompanying me, but you of course will be one of them. The rest will continue slowly to Anvard with these curtains pulled down so none other than the Narnians here know that we left."

Susan would have thought that would have cheered Lisette up, but instead she gasped a little before covering it up with a small smile and saying, "Good. The boys would probably managed to get themselves killed easily if we weren't there to keep them safe."

They both began laughing, although Susan noticed Lisette's laughter seemed slightly forced.

* * *

><p>"King Edmund?" Darius whispered softly. He was grateful that they had been put into the same cell. As soon as the guards left, he inched as close to Edmund as his chains would allow. He started trying to get out of his chains. From experience, he knew he could eventually get out of most Archenland chains with enough time.<p>

After a moment, Edmund slowly lifted himself into a sitting position and faced him. He sighed and said, "I guess they've given up on keeping me alive for whoever it was they were delivering me to and are just taking whatever reward for my death. Those soldiers were all human, so I assume we're not in Narnia?"

"No, your majesty. Archenland."

"Archenland? That's some hope then," Edmund said. "By Archenland law the city must give us a trial, and I'm an expert at such things."

Darius decided not to point out that the mercenaries would most likely have prepared for that possibility and pay off the judge presiding over the trial. But apparently it showed in his face, since Edmund asked, "You don't believe the trial will be fair? I fear that as well. Keep an eye out for escape possibilities."

He hardly sounded more optimistic than Darius felt. If Darius had been in here by himself he'd have a decent chance, but he had to worry about protecting Edmund who was in no state to fight for himself. They fell back into silence, but Darius felt more guilty by the moment. At least Edmund would have still been alive if Darius hadn't gone after him. "I'm sorry, your majesty."

Darius was surprised to hear Edmund say, "You have nothing to be sorry for."

"You wouldn't be here if we hadn't gone after you," he said regretfully.

"Better dead than a bargaining chip to be used against Narnia. With me captured, my siblings might be able to be talked into doing something that's not in Narnia's favor. People often go to lengths they would never otherwise do when their family is in trouble," Edmund said, looking straight at Darius on the last sentence.

Darius looked at his hands for a moment. He knew that statement had to be referring to his botched assassination attempt, but he wasn't sure what Edmund meant by bringing it up.

"Are… are you still… have you forgiven me for that?" Darius asked uncertainly.

Edmund gave Darius a strange look that he couldn't interpret and said, "Of course."

Darius wasn't expecting that response and pushed farther, asking, "Really? But you always seemed so suspicious of me."

Edmund sighed and shuffled a bit. He stared at the wall for a bit before turning back to Darius and saying, "I didn't mean for it to come across that way. When you tried to assassinate my siblings, it was a lapse after years of being reformed. I didn't think you would do the wrong thing precisely, but more the wrong thing with good intentions."

Darius suddenly grew uncomfortable, not wanting Edmund to realize that he had snuck out of Cair Paravel.

"But… but you also seemed the most eager to torture me," Darius pointed out.

"Not eager for torture but for information. Wouldn't you want more information about who was after your sister if it was Lisette who was nearly killed?" he posed. Darius nodded, knowing he would do that and more in an instant if any of his family was endangered. "And you did receive the bandages and medicine for it afterwards?" he continued.

Darius nodded and questioned, "That was you? I assumed it was one of the queens."

"As soon as Phen came and told us about his dream, I sent a faun to fetch those for you and reverse Peter's order about bread and water. It's my jurisdiction anyways. We decided early on that Susan was far too gentle, Lucy was too trusting, and Peter – well, he just didn't like to get his hands dirty. So it fell to me to make decisions about prisoners and decide how far we would go with torture and such. Except when Peter takes a personal interest in a prisoner. Such as when it involves an attack on the girls."

"But at that point you didn't for sure know that I did it – or tried to I should say – for my family," Darius questioned.

"I found it unlikely Aslan would have sent him a dream otherwise. Then it became only a question of whether Pheneus was lying about such a dream, ergo why Susan came up with the idea of tricking a confession out of you," he said. At the end of talking, he leaned back against the side of the wall and closed his eyes. Evidently the drugs were still affecting him. Darius decided to fully concentrate on picking the locks on his chains to give King Edmund a chance to gain back some energy. After a long pause, Edmund suddenly said, "And you remind me of myself."

"Huh?"

"The way you're constantly working to redeem yourself. And believing such things to be impossible."

"What…how does that remind you of yourself?" Darius asked in shock. There were rumors certainly that King Edmund had betrayed his family and aided the White Witch when he was young, but since meeting them Darius assumed it was just vicious gossip.

"You've never heard about how I went to the White Witch? She… I… Peter and I didn't have a good relationship when we were younger. A lot of it was pure spite and jealousy. Always overshadowed by my perfect brother," Edmund said, but his voice was free of any jealousy. Darius listened carefully, shocked by the events Edmund was detailing. None of them reflected the king Darius knew Edmund to be. The Just King as some had begun calling him. "So in the end, I've tried to redeem myself for betraying them. And all of Narnia. And it all worked out in the end, but I almost destroyed Narnia forever."

"I'm pretty sure what I did was much worse," Darius said. "You made one mistake which you regretted pretty quickly. I've been a mercenary since I was young and have committed so many crimes."

"Did you really know what you were getting into?" Edmund countered. Suddenly, Darius head a familiar click and grinned. Edmund asked, "What is it?"

"Just undid my chains. I'll work on you next. We might be able to break out when they come to get us. Or if Arianis and Phillip find a way in," he responded, moving over to Edmund and working on picking the locks on his chains.

"Sometime I really wonder at how Susan managed to not be killed by you. And how you didn't escape our prisons," Edmund teased quietly.

"I was out of practice?" Darius joked, enticing a small laugh from Edmund.

"Well, hopefully you're in practice now so we can escape."

"I swear I'm going to get you out of here," Darius vowed.

Edmund simply leaned back against Darius and whispered, "Thank you." Darius froze for a moment. It wasn't the physical distance that surprised him. After all, he had sparred against Edmund often. But Edmund was acting like a friend, a close friend at that. This gesture in particular showed that Edmund trusted him, something with only made Darius feel guilty for letting him down. He began working again on his chains silently. He eventually heard the familiar click. Edmund turned and asked, "You got it unlocked?"

"Yes, your majesty," he mumbled, pulling the chains away and looking over Edmund's wrists. He hadn't been in chains too long, but in his weakened state they had bruised his wrists pretty badly. "This isn't good."

"What's not?"

"There's no way you could fight, your majesty. And I know from experience that the only way out of these types of prisons is to fight them when they open your cell doors and then make a run for it."

"I can fight," he protested.

"With your wrists this bruised? And you keep leaning back and resting," Darius countered.

"They're not as hurt as they look," Edmund countered, pulling himself up to sit straight. Darius bit his lip to keep from protesting more. It seemed that Edmund would just try and prove that he's alright no matter what Darius said.

"Just… just rest. They won't be here for awhile," Darius said, moving over and resting on the wall in hopes that Edmund would follow suit if he did first. To his relief, Edmund did. "If more than two of them come to take us away, put your chains back on. I mean, if it pleases your majesty." Darius suddenly realized that he couldn't be telling his superior what to do, but thankfully Edmund just looked amused and nodded.

"We should have a signal for when either of us see a chance to escape. How about this? Pete and I have used it before," he said, drawing a clockwise circle against his arm.

"And a return signal to show the other person sees it and agrees? How about this?" Darius suggested, rubbing his thumb on his arm in two small strokes.

Edmund nodded before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep. Darius followed suit, falling asleep while thinking of his worries about Lisette and his nephews and nieces. And one last thought of Susan.

He didn't know how long they were in there. Food was brought to them ten times, which implied most likely five days since Archenland law required prisoners receive two meals a day, but he thought they might have missed a meal or two. But the meals were all handed through the bars, so they had no chance to try to escape.

Someone jolted the door open. When Darius saw that three guards were there, he quickly chained himself again and saw that Edmund had done the same. He was relieved that Edmund didn't have any false sense of reckless valor. Darius noticed that Edmund was already looking significantly better. The guards took them out and brought them to an opulent courtroom. Darius kept noticing chances to escape, but even in his improved condition, Edmund wouldn't have made it. At one point, Edmund tried signaling, but Darius faked not noticing. It was too risky. Jumping at the first slightest opening for escape wasn't always the best.

Once they were put into the center of the courtroom, a page called, "All rise for his Lordship, Lord Peridan."

_Peridan?_ Darius thought. He had known a Peridan growing up… But this couldn't be him. The idea of the Peridan he knew being a lord was rather laughable. When the lord swept into the room, Darius blew off the idea that it might be the Peridan he knew before. This lord was acting so pretentious, so uppity. When he hung out with the Peridan he knew as a child, they had snuck around making fun of such nobles.

The lord waved his hand for everyone other than Edmund and Darius to sit. "What are the allegations?"

"My good lord. I am trader Lardin and this is my partner Allan," the mercenary Darius wasn't familiar with stood up and said, gesturing to himself and Halgor. "We are poor traders, your lordship, and these villains stole our goods, woodwork. When we found them, they seemed to have handed off what they stole to accomplices."

"Have we caught these accomplices?" Lord Peridan asked lazily, either easily buying their story or not caring about finding out the truth.

"No, my lord," one of the guards said, sounding nervous. Evidently the guards weren't smart enough to think of such things.

"Very well. And do we know who these two are?" he asked in the same uninterested tone.

"My lord," Edmund began smoothly.

"Not from you. Them," Lord Peridan rebuked. Darius glanced at Edmund. It seemed that the lord only cared about getting the trial over as quickly as possible. Seemed to possibly be a bit drunk too. Some lords allowed the condemned to defend themselves, but it seemed this wasn't one of them. Not out of hate, but out of sheer boredom it seemed.

"The taller one matches the description of the mercenary Darius, who is wanted for several crimes which merit execution," one of the guards said, glancing over to Halgor who gave a slight nod of approval. They must have paid him off to say that.

Surprisingly, Peridan suddenly showed interest for the first time and addressed Darius directly, "Is it so? Is that who you are?"

Darius glanced at Edmund for confirmation on whether he should answer truthfully or not. Edmund shook his head no almost imperceivably, so Darius answered, "No, my lord."

"Then what is your name?" he asked, looking over Darius with a slight from.

"Alastair," he said, using the name of his and Peridan's close friend from childhood. If this was the same Peridan, he was sure to remember it. Darius thought he saw a flicker of recognition and perhaps amusement in the lord's eyes. Could it be his old friend? Of course, even if it was, it had been years. Darius couldn't expect him to help them.

"My lord, we have a _very_ dependable source which says he is the mercenary Darius," the guard repeated.

"My lord," Edmund suddenly said. Peridan looked at him with interest this time and nodded for him to keep speaking. "If you believe him to be the mercenary Darius, should you not then send us to Anvard to be tried by King Lune?"

"That's a ridiculous waste of time," Halgor sneered.

"But by Archenland royal edict 3452," Edmund began, giving a detailed account of the law and how it had been applied in the past. Darius eventually realized what was going on. King Lune was sure to recognize Edmund. But Darius may still be in trouble if Lune insisted on his execution.

Peridan nodded too much as Edmund spoke, as though he was pretending to understand but had no clue what was going on. When Edmund seemed to have finished, he nodded some more and said, "Of course. You're absolutely correct. And as his accomplice, if this is indeed the mercenary Darius, you will be tried along with him."

Suddenly the two mercenaries and about half of all the guards all stood up and drew weapons.

"What's going on here?" Peridan asked sharply. "Put your weapons away."

"You should have just executed them," Halgor said. "And then there would have been no need for you or your guards who we didn't pay off to die. But, we're reasonable men. We'll even give you one more chance. Give us the Narnian king and none of you need to die."

"The – what?" Peridan choked out. He looked at Edmund as in shock, clearly not believing that the Narnian king would be on trial here in his court.

"Never," Darius said, moving so that he was between Edmund and the handful of guards who had bows and arrows.

"Come on, Peridan," Halgor challenged. "What's it going to be? Are you going to let us take him?"

Peridan glanced at Darius and rubbed his nose while thinking. Darius' mind suddenly flashed back to the many times that the Peridan he knew as a child did that. It was him! "Peridan! Don't do it! Please!" he yelled out. "That one is the one who killed my parents!"

Peridan gasped and looked like he was going to fight the mercenaries, but then frowned and began looking over the guards and such. Darius glanced and realized he seemed to be looking at the odds, which Darius knew weren't good. But there was a very slim chance if Peridan had the guards still loyal to them fight alongside them that they might just manage to get out of this alive. But without Peridan's support, they were as good as dead.


	16. Her Final Fight

**I've never written a scene like this before for fanfic, so please review! **

Arianis and Phillip were trying to find their way towards Anvard. They hoped that King Lune might interfere and save King Edmund and Darius, or at the very least, just King Edmund. It might be difficult to get King Lune to pardon Darius, but they figured Darius had probably done a job for Lune before, so there was a chance. Maybe.

But they had no clue how much time they had. They were slowed significantly by being forced to travel in the shadows and avoid humans so as to not get stopped or attract attention. They could only hope that Braun was slovenly and slow enough that they would get to Anvard in time.

"Look," Phillip suddenly said, gesturing with his head towards a small group of humans on horses. But two of them were sitting strangely, like fauns pretending to be humans. And Talking Horses could always tell whether another horse is talking or not.

"Narnians," Arianis said. She jerked her head towards them and said, "Let's go."

When they grew closer, they realized they knew most of them.

"Your majesty! King Edmund and Darius are captured! In prison in Braun!" Arianis gasped out.

"Then let us fly to them, my friends!" Susan cried out as the Narnians found new energy to race towards Braun. They ran all through the night and the next morning until they were at the city gates.

A guard stood at the city gates. Susan slipped something into Lisette's hand. Lisette slipped off her horse and approached the guard, waving the papers quickly so he would see the noticeable features such as the signature, but not have enough time to read the details, like the name of the incorrect city or long-past date. "We must enter the city. We have the papers sighed by King Lune himself."

"Of course, your… highness?" he said, mistaking her for royalty. Lisette didn't bother correcting him, climbing back on to her horse as they all rode into the city.

"The prison is this way," Arianis said.

"They're not in the prison," Susan said, holding up Aiyanna's petal and seeing it was pointing in a slightly different direction. "They must be about to be put on trial. Hurry, this way!"

They raced to the courtroom, Susan checking the petal to make sure her hypothesis was correct. _Aslan, please let us be there in time! _

* * *

><p>Peridan was completely torn. He was trying to figure out what the Tash was going on in his courtroom, but the grog he had had that morning was still impairing his thinking. Not that this would have been an easy situation to figure out otherwise. He could save his friend by just giving them the Narnian king. The Narnian king… Peridan still couldn't believe it. How the Tash does a king of Narnia end up in an Archenland prison? The moment a Narnian monarch stepped foot into Archenland, the news always spread like wildfire, with rumor left and right of what strange creatures accompanied them each trip.<p>

But Darius was acting very protective of the king, as strange as that seemed. It had been years since Peridan knew Darius, but the Darius he knew was always stubborn and more than willing to take ridiculous risks if he felt he needed to, although Peridan hardly knew why Darius cared about him. But regardless of his motive, it didn't seem like there was any way that Darius would just let the Narnian king be taken away. Peridan absentmindedly rubbed his nose while thinking.

"Peridan! Don't do it! Please!" Darius suddenly yelled out hoarsely. "That one is the one who killed my parents."

Peridan gasped and grabbed the hilt of his sword instinctually. No wonder Darius was working against these mercenaries. Peridan had known Darius' parents and their death had hit him hard when he was young, especially since it was his first experience with death. But then he realized jumping straight to action might not be the best course and looked around the room once more. If all the guards who hadn't sold out for money stayed loyal to him, they would have a chance.

Another thought suddenly occurred to Peridan. The Narnians had four rulers. If one was taken away because of his decision, the other three were sure to enact revenge on the city.

"Well, come on, Peridan. We haven't got all day," the murderer taunted. "Are you going to give us King Edmund?"

"Never!" Peridan shouted as he lifted his sword high, although he was a bit tipsy and had to grab the railing which rather ruined the effect. "Guards, attack!"

He could tell his fighting was impaired. Thankfully, some of the city's soldiers concentrated on protecting him. He would have been dead in just a few minutes otherwise. Darius managed to knock out the first soldier who came to him and take his sword. But rather than using the sword for himself, he handed it to the Narnian king who turned out to be a right devil with the sword. He easily disarmed the next soldier that attacked them, gaining Darius a sword.

The fight turned bloody fast. Darius kept engaging several soldiers at a time rather than one at a time, causing him to get hurt several times. He had managed to get another sword and was fighting with both hands. King Edmund seemed to taking less risks than Darius in his fighting, but that wasn't saying much. He also somehow ended up fighting with two swords. One of the mercenaries was fighting, but the other seemed to have disappeared. _Coward,_ Peridan thought derisively. His disappearance helped slightly even the odds though. Although he wasn't the only one who seemed to have disappeared. Peridan couldn't figure out who left, but weren't there several more guards who hadn't been bought off? Dammit. Cowards. If he survived this, he really needed to reevaluate the type of guards he was hiring. And his own drinking habits. Although he hadn't exactly been anticipating needed to fight.

Darius suddenly broke free of the soldiers surrounding him with a dagger he had procured in hand. He threw it straight at the mercenary who had remained in the room, but the mercenary managed to move in time and only was hurt in the arm. It was his sword arm though, so it was still a small victory for their side.

Suddenly, the doors burst open loudly. Everyone turned, forgetting for a brief moment to continue to fight. Peridan openly gaped. Was that a… a _leopard?_ And a horse with no rider… After a moment, he realized it most have been one of those Narnian talking horses. The riders on the four horses dismounted, ready to fight. Two of them were absolutely beautiful women. One of them was clearly royalty by her dress. _One of the Narnian queens, _he thought. He took a quick glance at King Edmund to confirm his suspicions. He saw recognition in the Narnian king's eyes, but his gaze seemed to be on the lady beside the queen, not the queen herself. Peridan didn't understand what to make of that. But he did have to admit, the lady beside the queen was beyond simply beautiful. Her looks were the type poets and bards would praise until the end of time. The queen was beautiful too, but in comparison to that women, only a regular beauty in Peridan's eyes. The two women both had bows and arrows in hand and began shooting down soldiers left and right as the two others – _Aslan's mane what were those creatures? Goat-people thingies… fauns was it? _– began fighting their way to the Narnian king. The horses – _Talking Horses, _he mentally corrected – used their hooves to strike down men while the leopard used his – _or hers? _Peridan had no clue how to tell its gender – claws to rip soldiers apart.

The queen strangely seemed to be inching her way towards the back entrance. Her movements could have been construed for moving to get a better angle as she shot, but then some of her movements should have also led her the opposite direction.

With the Narnian arrivals, the tide seemed to be turning in their favor. The Narnians were a bit hesitant about killing those who they didn't know the loyalty of, but most of the traitorous soldiers engaged them in fighting, making their loyalty – or lack thereof – apparent.

Suddenly, a voice yelled out, "No!"

Peridan glanced to see the queen running towards the back entrance frantically. The other mercenary had returned with a large bow and arrow, pointing it directly at – Peridan's eyes followed it towards the center – the Narnian king. The queen was the only one close enough to stop him and ran even faster. The mercenary realized she was the queen from her dress and switched to aiming at her. He released the arrow. She screamed and fell as it pierced her neck. But even while falling, she managed to threw a dagger at the mercenary's heart with impressive aim, killing him swiftly.

Peridan realized he had, as had the mercenary, been making a mistaken assumption by the way she was dressed when Darius yelled desperately, "Lisette!" Darius angrily knocked aside any and all soldiers in his way to get to his sister. He cradled her head on his knees, crying over her and trying to remove the arrow as she gasped for breath. Peridan might not have known Darius for some time, but when he was younger, Darius would have rather killed himself a thousand times over than have Lisette die. It seemed that had not changed one bit.

* * *

><p>"Aslan… he… he gave me a vision," Lisette said breathlessly to her brother.<p>

"Wh-What?" Darius asked frantically. He had seen enough deaths to know she didn't have a chance of surviving, even as he pointlessly worked on removing the arrow. Only Queen Lucy's cordial all the way back in Cair Paravel could have saved her. But there was no chance of Lisette surviving long enough to make it there.

"Aslan… I had a vision which he then told me was absolutely to come to pass and nothing I could do would stop it, only alter the situation it occurred under. I saw … I saw Susan being shot. But then I realized I only saw the vision from the back. We… we have the same hair color so I was only i… identifying her by hair and clothing," Lisette breathed.

"Did you know about this?" Darius accused, looking at Susan who had just joined them and sat by Lisette's side. Everyone else was finishing off arresting the rest of the disloyal guards who had surrendered when they realized the mercenaries were both dead so they wouldn't be getting their bribe money.

"No! She told me she wanted to change outfits to confuse any other possible assassins," Susan said, slipping Lisette's into hers and crying. "Like how you mistook Richard for Peter. I – I would have never agreed if I knew!"

"I'm your guard. It – It's my job," Lisette said, the words coming harder. "The day we left… just before we left… I saw _Him. _Aslan… I spoke with him… about the vision… I asked him if the vision… if it would work if… if I switched places with you… He… he didn't answer… not directly… but … he asked me if I was devoted… devoted to you, Narnia, and him… I said yes… he asked how devoted? … I said I was devoted enough to die… enough to go to Aslan's country instead of letting you die." *

"Aslan forced you to die," Darius sneered. He didn't quite believe in Aslan, but Lisette would never lie to him. Ever. And if this Aslan somehow made her die, Darius would do whatever he could to have his revenge.

"Darius…" Lisette said weakly. "Don't let this… don't let it ruin your progress… Remember, I… I chose to die. Don't swear revenge. Promise me."

She said the last two statements strongly, glancing slightly at Susan at the end. It was like she was reading his mind. Of course she was. She was his sister. She knew him better than anyone in the world.

"I love you," Darius said, caressing her carefully. "So much."

"Promise me," Lisette insisted.

Darius winced. He couldn't lie to his sister. "Lisette…"

"Promise!" she shouted, bringing on a round of coughing and shaking. Darius pressed his arms around her. She had glanced at Susan when she said for him to not swear revenge. He could easily promise not to hurt Susan. She hadn't known. She wasn't the one he blamed for this.

"I promise," he said so that she could die in peace.

"Lisette," Susan suddenly said urgently. "Ask for your brother's pardon. For leaving the castle. No one could deny that you deserve a last wish."

Edmund, who had joined them after the disloyal guards were all taken care of and nodded, taking Lisette's other hand. Peridan silently joined them, kneeling beside her and remembering the little girl he had known and played with.

"My children… are –" Lisette began.

"They would be cared for anyways. We all love them so much," Susan said. "You _must _officially ask for your brother's pardon if you don't want to chance a trial going poorly for him!"

"Your …. Your majesties, please … pardon my brother …as my dying wish," Lisette said.

"Granted," Edmund said with a tight smile, kissing her hand gently.

"Dar… Darius… tell my kids … I love them," Lisette whispered.

"Of course! Of course!" he said, crying even harder and pressing his lips to her forehead.

"I… I love… you too… brother… dear… Don't…. change and disappoint me," she whispered.

Darius knew she was speaking of his mercenary work. "I swear."

"My… lady…I love … you too… I am so … so grateful to have… worked for you," Lisette said.

"No one will replace you in my heart, my dear friend," Susan cried.

"You were dear to all our hearts," Edmund said. He had known her the least, but even he felt hurt by her death. Lucy and Susan had long thought of her as a close female human companion – which they had very few of – and Peter often interacted with her as the mother of his squire. Edmund had less reason to get to know her, but her death was still a stunning blow to him.

"I… I hear…Aslan… he's calling for me," she whispered. A moment later, she stopped moving at all. Edmund turned her hand over to feel for a pulse and shook his head. Darius buried his face into her hair, crying and shaking.

"Darius," Susan said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Would you like us to stay with you and keep vigil, or do you wish to mourn alone in silence?"

"Please give me a moment alone with her, your majesty," he said hoarsely.

"Then we will return later," Susan said softly. She hesitated for a moment, then kissed him on the cheek softly. Darius felt so numbed by Lisette's death that he hardly noticed. She raised her voice and commanded, "Everyone else, out!" Edmund wrapped his arms around Susan as they walked out.

Then Darius was alone. Alone to mourn his sister. Killed by the same murderous scoundrel who had killed his parents. His only consolation was that Halgor was finally finished. There was no chance of him going after Pheneus and the girls to finish off the rest of Darius' family. But did Lisette truly have to die? Could he not have anyone who cared for him in his life that didn't die tragically?

Why had he let Halgor go? Letting him go may have saved his and Edmund's lives, but he easily valued Lisette's life more than both of theirs combined. But it wasn't Edmund's fault any more than it was Susan's. He hadn't known what it would lead to. There was only one who knew that these courses of action would lead to her death. Who gave her the awful choice of her death or Susan's.

"Aslan," he whispered, slowly looking up. "I swear, I _will have my vengeance on you!_"

***Another note for this chapter, the name Lisette means "devoted to God."**


	17. Forgetting

**Thank you for all the reviews! It seemed you all either hated it in the right way or loved it in the morbid way. Um... not so sure about the requests for more death scenes, Pevensies49... I am considering it, but no promises. And no, guest, she's not going to magically come back. I dislike stories have Aslan randomly raise characters from the dead since doing so often takes the meaning out of the character's death.  
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**Please keep reviewing! I've also never written a fic with a scene like this one either, so I would like to know if I got it right or not! A quick warning though, it's meant to be disturbing. **

like I'll be travelling with you lot," Peridan said a bit-too-cheerfully to Darius after leaving the Anvard courtroom. Since Lisette's death, they had continued onto Anvard where King Lune was filled in on the details. Susan and Edmund had initially mentioned their fears that Lune would be suspicious about them hiding the details and travelling about Archenland surreptitiously, but Lune had instead acted as though he was frightened that they would be angry about Edmund's treatment by the guards and Lord Peridan. He had insisted on making Peridan face trial for his sloppy judicial system in hopes of appeasing the Narnians.

"What do you mean?" Darius frowned.

"My trial just happened. And King Lune decided that I should work for the Narnian courts for the next five years to learn how to properly run a city and make up for wrongfully imprisoning King Edmund," Peridan said. "The brother of a lord from one of the other courts will run Braun in my absence."

"So you can drunkenly wander the halls of Cair Paravel?" Darius grumbled.

"Look who's talking," Peridan said. "You have a drink in your hand right now and having been drinking pretty heavily all week."

"I don't usually drink," Darius said with a glare.

"I figured. Lisette's death hit you hard. Not surprising. You were always so close, even before your parents died," Peridan said without thinking.

"Gee, thanks for bringing that up. Like I wasn't depressed enough before," Darius muttered, taking a long sip.

"Hey, it's not like my parents are around either," Peridan pointed out. "Or the entire line of deaths that lead to my getting this dratted lordship."

"Whatever," Darius said. He offered his drink. "You need a drink?"

"Can't. I'll get in trouble with King Lune if I'm not sobering up," he moaned. "Gotta start on a straight path now, you know? By the way, do you blame me for what happened?"

"No, course not," Darius said unconvincingly.

"So who do you blame?" Peridan said with an eyebrow uplifted. "C'mon, I won't tell them."

After a moment of judgment, Darius decided to confide in him. With Peridan no longer drinking, he could probably actually keep a secret. "Aslan."

"Good luck with revenge there then. Oh please," he said when he saw Darius was about to protest. "_Of course_ you're going to be trying for revenge. But how exactly does one get revenge on a probably non-existent lion deity?"

"You don't believe?"

"Depends on how drunk I am," Peridan joked. "Seriously though, I only fake belief. Most of the lords do to curry favor with King Lune who does believe. If there's something I can do to help you though, just tell me. I've got more money than I could ever use, especially now that I'm not able to spend it all on drinks."

"Thanks. But I believe that he is real, at the very least. Lisette wouldn't lie, and she seemed very determined that she had seen him. But I don't think he's worth worshipping or is good. And he supposedly died before, so he's not immortal," Darius said darkly.

"But those same stories say he came back," Peridan pointed out.

"Only because of a magic he doesn't control, according to what King Edmund told me," Darius said.

After hearing a knock, Peridan called, "Who's there?"

"It's me," Edmund called. Peridan practically ran to admit him. Darius reluctantly got to his feet.

"Your majesty," Peridan said, nervous around him. Edmund hadn't exactly been friendly towards him and working for Narnian courts would mean he'd be around him a lot more.

"I didn't realize you were here," Edmund said, somewhat coldly. He wasn't exactly pleased with Peridan. He always held Narnian courts to high standards, which Peridan's trial was absolutely nowhere near. "I wish to speak with Darius alone."

"Of course, your majesty," Peridan said, backing out of the room and bowing. Since he couldn't see where he was going, he ended up backing right into the door frame.

When he was gone, Edmund grimaced and asked, "Is he drunk _again?_"

"No, sire," Darius said blankly.

"If you say so. But it seems _you_ are drinking quite a lot," Edmund said, eyeing the drink in Darius' hand. "I'd rather you not, but I don't have the heart to stop you either."

"I don't care what you think. It dulls the pain," he said audaciously.

"I'd just rather you find a better way of facing your pain," Edmund said, ignoring Darius' rudeness. "But as I said, I don't have the heart to stop you. But you should really stop before Peter finds out. But I didn't come here to lecture you. I came to ask about your plans. We leave tomorrow. Will you be coming with us?"

"Don't I have to?" he muttered.

"Technically, yes," Edmund said. "But I would like to know if you plan to run away. We'll just say that we didn't have the soldiers to spare in tracking you down."

"I'm returning," Darius said emotionlessly. "All that's in Archenland for me is reminders of dead parents and dead sisters."

"I understand. We're glad you will return with us," Edmund said. He walked over to him and clasped his upper-arm in a gesture of friendship. Darius was fairly startled by this gesture. It was common enough in Archenland, but only among equals. Darius just stood there dumbfounded as Edmund began walking out. Edmund paused for a moment and then turned back to say, "Oh, and Darius? At least pull yourself together enough to pretend in front of Pheneus, Helena, and Bria. It wouldn't be good for them to see what a mess you are right now."

"Yes, sire," he said automatically.

* * *

><p>Edmund quickly sought out his sister.<p>

"What is it, brother?" she said exasperatedly. She hadn't had any time to mourn between dealing with the regular Archenland business and mess this all had caused. Her patience had been being worn down continuously every single day.

"I hate to put anything more on your shoulders, sister, but…"

"But you're planning on doing so anyways," Susan said pointedly. "Well, out with it. What is it?"

"I'm not really good with deep emotional stuff. But, I think Darius needs help. He's been drinking quite a lot," Edmund said lamely.

"And what? Because I'm female I must be good at feelings?" Susan frowned.

"Um…" Edmund said awkwardly. "Well, you are better than me at least. Please, Su? He did rescue me."

"Which means you should be the one to talk with him! Ugh. Here, I'll make a deal with you. You deal with meeting with those damn nobles, and I'll deal with talking with Darius," she said.

"Even better, I'll deal with everything else for the night. You can take it off since you seem really stressed," Edmund said soothingly.

"No, you're not fully healed yet," Susan protested, ever protective of her younger brother.

"I'm fine! And you've been doing well more than half the work. I need to step it up," Edmund said, kissing her cheek fondly.

Susan smiled and said, "Thanks, Ed."

"Darius," Susan said quietly as she entered the room. He glanced behind him and reluctantly got up when he saw it was her. "No, it's alright. You needn't stand."

He collapsed back into his chair. Susan pulled another chair over to face him. She took his hands and held them in hers silently, rubbing the knuckles of his fingers.

"Why are you here, your majesty?" Darius said emotionlessly.

"Oh, Darius," Susan said, gripping his hands tighter. "I'm so sorry."

"Not your fault," he said gruffly. Susan wanted to believe him, but something in his voice caught which made her think he wasn't as calm about that as he pretended. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to be sure you were still agreeable with the idea of burying Lisette here in Archenland," Susan fibbed. He probably wouldn't like the idea of them mollycoddling him, so best come up with a pretense.

"I…I don't know. But the kids would want to be able to visit her," he said.

"I'll arrange it. And there will be a memorial for her in Narnia, as a martyr. But I don't think that it's just the kids who would want to visit her," Susan said pointedly.

Darius got up and walked to the window, staring blankly out of it. After a minute, he said, "She's the one who brought me up after my parents died. And the one who pulled me out of mercenary work. Who believed I could live an honest life."

Susan got up and stood beside him. "But now you don't have to deal with anything alone. We're all here for you. Anything you need. And we all believe in you and what you can do."

Darius slowly turned to her. Susan started a little when she saw tears in his eyes. Darius might have the gruff, tough exterior of a thug, but it was clear that he was taking this hard. She slowly wrapped her arms around him and found that she had begun crying as well.

"Sorry, sorry," she said after crying on his shoulder for a few minutes. "I didn't mean to come here to make everything worse."

"Drink?" Darius offered lamely. "Seems like you could use it as well."

"Give me that," Susan said, grabbing it out of his hand and downing the rest of his flask in one long gulp.

"By the Mane!" he exclaimed at her enthusiasm. "Well, I… I have a lot more in the cupboard."

He went and poured her a glass.

"She was my only female human friend," Susan said, downing another glass as Darius also helped himself to some hard alcohol. "It's been more than ten years, and yet I had no one other than my sister I could talk to. Like girl talk, you know. And as soon as I found such a friend, she dies… And it's because of _me _she's dead."

"It's not your fault," Darius repeated. "Another drink?"

"Please," Susan said foolishly. She hardly ever drank more than one glass at a time and was already feeling a little drunk since she had had two drinks at dinner. But it was better than stressed and depressed. And with Edmund taking care of everything, who cared if she got drunk?

"I didn't think you would approve of drinking. King Edmund made it clear he thought there were 'better ways' of dealing with grief," Darius said before taking another long drink.

"I don't f***ing care," Susan said, placing her glass down a bit too hard. "This feels so damn good."

"It does, doesn't it?" Darius said, grinning a bit for the first time. A drunken, lopsided grin, but a grin nonetheless. "Best I've felt since she died."

"Same here," Susan said, returning the grin. "Mmmm, did you know you look really attractive when you smile?"

"Really?" Darius said with another drunken grin. "Well, I've always thought you the most beautiful woman in the world."

"Course you think that right now. You're… you know… _drunk_," Susan said, beginning to laugh hysterically.

"Naw, I thought it before," he said with a big smile.

"Suuuure," she drawled.

"You're the drunk one," he laughed.

"Never been this drunk before," she said. "Why did I never do this before? This feels so nice."

"Another drink?" he offered, laughing at her.

"As many as you have," she said. He tried to pour her drink, but missed and got it on her arm.

"Ahh… now you're going to have to lick it off," Susan teased. But Darius instantly lifted her arm and began licking her sleeve.

"I bet your skin tastes better than your sleeve," he randomly said.

"Well, then try," Susan laughed, beginning to pull off her dress until she was only in her underclothes. "Well, go on then!"

Darius began licking her wrist and slowly moved up her arm as she giggled uncontrollably. A stray thought passed her mind that this was incredibly inappropriate, but the buzz in her head quickly dismissed that thought. His tongue went from licking her arm to kissing it. Susan's hands traveled to his shoulders as if controlled by an outside force. His kisses traveled up to her shoulder and into her neck. She gasped in delight. He was an extraordinarily good kisser. And she loved his passion behind it. He was so strong and holding nothing back. Unlike any courtier she had allowed to kiss her, he didn't seem to worried about being overly gentle with her as if she was some delicate glass doll that might break any moment. She loved it. She felt her skin burning delightfully and her heart pounding out of her chest. Or that might have been the alcohol burning. She hardly could tell the difference.

"Kiss me," she gasped.

"As you wish," he muttered, grabbing her tight and kissing her. She jumped on him, his reflexes impaired, but still good enough to easily catch her. She wrapped her arms around his head, returning his passion. Her teeth were practically rattling from the pressure, but she didn't want it to stop. She could stay here in his arms, kissing him forever. Forgetting everything else.

"Darius… Darius…" she gasped, pulling her mouth away from his.

"Your majesty?" he said, moving his head back and forth as he tried to concentrate his eyes on her face.

"I… I can make you forget. Forget everything," she whispered. He slowly, too carefully, put her down.

"Wha-What do you mean?" he said, bemused.

She said nothing, reaching for the ties in the front of his tunic and loosening them. He simply stared at her incomprehensively as she then reached for the bottom of his tunic and lifted it over his head. Susan then pulled her hair to the side and turned around. "Well, go on then. Undo my underdress." Darius silently followed her instruction, having some problems with being too drunk to easily undo the smaller knots. But soon it had fallen to her feet and she turned back to him and began working on his belt.

"The bed?" he offered.

"Sounds… scrumptious…" Susan said, making them both laugh hysterically for no reason. But they were that drunk. Darius picked her up and carried her over. They fell into the blankets, exploring each other's bodies and finally making the bad decision that far too many people make when drunk.

* * *

><p>"F***," a man's voice suddenly swore. Susan groaned as she woke up. Why the heck did her head hurt so much? And who was there with her?<p>

She turned and saw Darius next to her, a look of terror on his face as it dawned on him what must have happened last night. "By the Mane," Susan cussed. She should have known better than to drink that much. "I should get out of here before anyone notices. Aslan's mane, my head hurts!"

"That… that was a mistake. Can we please… just….forget the whole thing?" Darius pleaded. Susan quickly realized he thought she was either going to punish him or tell her brothers who were sure to punish him even if she tried to take the blame for it.

"No! I mean yes," she said, her mind still in a faze. "I mean… I'm not sure I want to forget it."

"Um… we should… we probably should get dressed," Darius said uncertainly. He grabbed his clothes and started dressing again, but Susan found she couldn't stop staring at his body. All those muscles – no wonder he was so strong when they fought. And scars everywhere. Those fascinated her more. She began wondering at the many stories those scars could tell.

"Your majesty?" Darius said worriedly. "Is something the matter? Shouldn't – Shouldn't you get dressed? Before everyone else gets up?"

"Oh. Right," Susan said foggily, pulling on her clothes. She was oddly disappointed. He kept looking away rather than looking at her. She knew she should be relieved that he wasn't taking advantage of the situation, but she almost wanted him to look at her. "Darius… are we… are we going to talk about… what happened?"

"I swear, your majesty, it'll never happen again," Darius pleaded. "Forgive me, please."

"Darius! I'm not upset with you. And… I don't want anyone to find out anymore than you do. We… we were both drunk and not thinking straight at all. But… maybe… sometime when we're not depressed…. Or stressed… and definitely both sober… maybe something could happen," she said shyly. She knew what she was suggesting was wrong, but something about last night had been so exhilarating. He had been able to make her completely forget about everything and everyone. It had been so liberating for her to be treated like a woman rather than a queen. Getting drunk to do so and the timing of it was absolutely a mistake she didn't want to repeat, but falling into bed with Darius… that might be a mistake worth repeating.

"Your majesty," he said gruffly. "I…. I think you might still be a bit drunk. If you're saying things like that."

Susan felt herself begin to cry. She hardly even knew why. This was all so confusing. She wished that night had never happened and yet at the same time she wanted to never forget it. "I… I think I'll go now. I should go."

"Yes, you should," Darius said blankly. "You… you might want to ask one of the servants to get you something for hangover."

She took a step to leave, but wanted to stay. After lingering for a moment, Darius sighed and walked over to her, pulling her into a tight hug. "Susan, I'm sorry."

Susan felt her heart skip a beat when he used her name instead of her title for the first time. "No, _I'm _sorry. You… you were grieving and I suggested … that… to forget it. That was so incredibly wrong of me."

"You were grieving and upset to," he muttered into her hair.

Susan was sorely tempted to suggest the possibility of being more than friends again, but knew she should stop now. Before she did something to ruin their friendship. And it was just so inappropriate to ask since Lisette had just died. But against her better judgment, she said, "Darius, I might regret our timing and drinking. But the part I don't regret about last night was that it was you."

"You _really_ should leave now, your majesty," Darius said through gritted teeth. Susan felt tears burning in her eyes and turned away to hide them. Rejection was an emotion she rarely had to deal with.

She stepped outside the room and noticed a letter on the ground outside. Someone must have delivered it earlier. Susan could only pray that whoever it was didn't overhear anything. "Darius, you have a letter… from my brother?"

"King Edmund?" Darius asked anxiously.

"No. Peter."

She handed the letter to Darius and he quickly read it, his face turning ashen.

"What is it?" Susan asked.

"The High King says he will speak to me privately upon arrival at Cair Paravel," he said reluctantly. "He says it about a rather urgent matter."

"We already sent word about Lisette's request for your pardon," Susan said uncertainly.

"Then what?" Darius asked.

"I don't know. But I'll help you with… whatever. Whatever it is, I'll support you," Susan promised recklessly.

"No, you are the queen and the High King' brother. I'm nothing. You'll support him of course. _Goodbye, _your majesty," Darius said, almost angrily. Susan flinched. _Nothing?_ Clearly she didn't view him as nothing. If it hadn't been obvious before, he should have definitely figured it out last night.

"You're not nothing. You're a hero. Ah, well, we'll speak some more on the journey home?" she said, more of a question than a statement.

_"Goodbye,_ your majesty," he repeated as she took a step back out the door.

"Darius, there's nothing that says we can't be friends," Susan said, turning back towards him once more.

"Yes, your majesty," Darius said courteously with a polite bow before slamming the door in her face.


	18. Escape from Emotions

**This chapter refers to stuff in my companion story ****_Eternal Blossom. _****I updated both this one and that one at the same time since they each have spoilers for each other. If you are reading both, then it's probably better to read that one first, but if you're just reading this story, you don't have to read that one to understand this story. **

**Someone reviewed saying they thought Darius was acting out of character… I know. It was meant to be unusual for him. Just remember that we've only seen it from Susan's POV. He doesn't quite see it as Susan sees it… Oh, and that last chapter? Not meant to be romantic. It was meant to be the least romantic "romance" scene. This chapter will also be disturbing like the last one was, but will hopefully clarify how Darius sees the incident. So… consider yourself warned…**

**A big thank you to Pevensies49! We messaged about the last chapter, and he gave me some input that helped me figure out how to write this chapter. **

**Also... there was some stuff I realized was no longer needed (I considered a less, erm, dark and disturbing path for this story to go down) , so I took it out (also changed some stuff based on all your lovely input)... But unfortunately, now people are having problems reviewing since the website keeps claiming they already reviewed that chapter (I didn't know about that rule before :/ ). So... if that happens to you, either review some chapter it allows you to and I'll know what you meant from context, message me, or review as a guest if you have input you want to give me. And any and all input, especially criticism is always gratefully received :)**

**Yikes! Sorry for the long author's note. **

Darius wished King Edmund would stop trying to be friendly with him. He and Susan hadn't been talking ever since they … um… yeah. He knew he had been dangerously rude to the queen. But her attitude had just made him so angry. She did realize that his _sister_ had just died?! And the idea of her using him for her sexual desires… Which suddenly sprung out of what? Him getting her drunk and sleeping with her when every nerve in his body told him it was as abhorrent idea? He wished he could be alone to sort out his thoughts. But there was the normal pushy Narnian hospitality and now this. And instead of being alone, he had slept with the queen. If Lisette was still alive, she would be furious with him. Lisette… he missed her so much. And everything reminded him of her… how was he going to face his nephew and nieces…

"Darius, can you help Susan from her horse?" Edmund asked as they approached Cair Paravel, jumping off his own horse. Susan and Darius both froze. He couldn't touch her. That would make him give in to her… It had taken all he could to not give in to her that night. If he hadn't managed to kick her out so fast after she made that rather offensive yet rather tempting offer he would have been foolish enough to give in. Being around her now was even more intoxicating and confusing than it was before.

"I'm perfectly capable of dismounting by myself," Susan said coolly, jumping down gracefully.

"Would you like me to return the horses to the stable, your majesty?" Darius offered, already grabbing the reins of one of the dumb horses. _Please give me an excuse to get away. _

"No, Peter said he needed to speak with you straightaway. Best not disappoint him," Edmund said. He handed the reins to one of the fauns instead. Darius felt his stomach sinking. He silently followed Edmund and Susan into the castle. Edmund placed a comforting hand on Darius' shoulder. "I'm sure whatever Peter wants with you can't be too bad."

"Yes, sire," Darius said emotionlessly as he followed them on their way to the Throne Room.

"There you are!" Peter's voice seemed to boom through the room with Lucy skipping alongside, looking delighted. Strangely, the dryad princess was by his side and followed him in. Susan and Edmund strode forward to greet him.

"I'm so glad you're safe," Peter murmured to Edmund as he held him tight. Darius felt like he was intruding on something intimate. "Don't scare us like that again, alright?"

Edmund grinned and punched his brother on the shoulder jokingly. "Nah, I think I'll try almost dying again tomorrow." They all hugged each other in turn.

Aiyanna, the dryad princess, then greeted Edmund and Susan with a hug as well. Darius didn't think anything unusual of it, but Susan said, "Not that I mind, but I thought that as a dryad you were uncomfortable with such things like hugs?"

"I figured if I am to live here, I should start getting used to it," she said, a slight twinkle in her eyes.

"Um, what?" Susan said.

"We're getting married. This week in fact," Peter said proudly.

Instead of being excited, Susan raised an eyebrow. "So quick? And I thought you were betrothed to the dryad lord Nahele?"

Aiyanna's leaves bristled a little. "I was. And that was the first thing my parents brought up when someone suggested we marry to keep the nymphs and Narnians from a civil war between us."

"Wait, war? Why is this the first we are hearing of this?" Edmund asked sharply.

"Her parents were the ones who sent the mercenaries. Aiyanna told us, but her parents don't know she was the informant, ergo why we could not send the information by letter in case it was intercepted," Lucy explained.

"And the marriage should stop any war? Or should we start working on the army?" Edmund said anxiously, already switching to acting as a commander.

"It should. The younger dryads around my age who would be the ones likely drummed up to fight are the most eager to make peace with the Narnians," Aiyanna said. "But you may want to have your spies keep an eye out for any trickery. And that's why the wedding is so soon. So my parents have no chance to sabotage it."

Darius tried very hard not to react to that last statement. All of it really. What messed up relationship did Aiyanna and her parents have that she would sell them out to the Narnians and that they would try to sabotage her wedding?

"And your former betrothed won't cause any trouble?" Edmund asked.

"Not intentionally. But we granted him and his… male dryad partner solace here, which may cause an issue," Peter said with a slight grimace. "Apparently dryads aren't so found of such unions. Anyways, you should probably get to the tailors so they can begin on your outfits. Darius, we need to talk with you."

Darius paled when he realized Peter said "we" rather than "I". Usage of the royal we couldn't be a good sign. The others left, but oddly Aiyanna stayed.

"I would like to know what your plans are about Lisette's children," Peter began once his siblings had left. Darius hadn't been expecting that. He hadn't really thought about that. But with their father long out of the picture, he was the closest, and only, relative.

"I… I hadn't thought about it," he said. "I… I guess I just assumed they still had a home here. But… I guess I assumed wrong?" He had a sinking feeling in his stomach. They couldn't go to an orphanage. It was possible the orphanages here were better than the one he and Lisette had gone to, but he didn't want to risk it. He would quite literally do anything to keep them out of an orphanage… he knew how he could convince Susan to keep them here. He didn't want to end up as the queen's concubinus, but if that's what it took…

"No, of course not. We just wanted to know first if you planned to adopt them," Peter said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I would never, ever turn them out. You have my word as High King."

"Thank you, sire," Darius said in relief.

"The main reason we needed to ask is… I'm infertile, but Peter wants children," Aiyanna explained, not wasting time getting to the point.

"They wouldn't be able to be named successors for either of us because of some old Narnian law for the me and not being dryad for Aiyanna, but we would raise them as our own and they will be very well cared for," Peter explained quickly. "We'll ask them of course, but we wanted to make sure you were agreeable to the idea first as their only living kin."

Darius was silent. He knew he should say yes. The children would never need to starve or want for anything again. And they would have a full family since Peter's siblings were sure to take them in. But selfishly, Darius didn't want to give his family up. And with him and Susan having some sort of passive fight, she was likely to use them to manipulate him into spending more time with her. And possibly into… concubinage.

"Please, Darius. I already almost think of Pheneus as my son," Peter said, gripping his shoulder.

That did it. "Phen said he wished you were his real father. Since he never really had a relationship with his own. I don't care if you adopt them," he said emotionlessly.

"Thank you," Peter said fervently, drawing Darius into a tight hug. Darius felt guilty for even thinking of saying no. Peter didn't have to ask for his blessing. Peter could have just taken them, and there would be nothing he could have done about it. And he clearly wanted to provide for the three children, even though he had no responsibility to.

Aiyanna was standing back, clearly not one for demonstrative gestures like that and simply said, "Well, I'll go speak with the children."

"You?" Darius said dubiously.

"So they know I do not plan to replace their mother. I understand that human children are rather attached to their parents?" she said.

"Um, yeah," he said. She nodded and left. Peter seemed to be looking Darius up and down. Darius felt his cheeks burning. Peter must be trying to decide on his punishment for disobeying orders. He was just lucky Peter didn't know of his crime against Susan. That would be enough to make all this Narnian generosity to end.

"Darius, go get some rest," he finally said. "You look like you could really use it."

"Yes, sire," Darius said. He really rather get whatever punishment now, but arguing with Peter probably wouldn't help him much.

* * *

><p>All three children had said yes of course. But of course they wanted parents. But Darius was genuinely happy that he was the first one the children wanted to tell about their new parents. They had practically tackled him, happy he was back. But then what Helena said nearly broke his heart.<p>

"Uncle Darry, why isn't mother here with you? They said she's gone forever, but since you're back, shouldn't she be with you?" she asked innocently.

Pheneus choked out, "Helena, she's not coming back. But Uncle Darius is here, so let's be happy about that." Darius felt sick when he realized that Pheneus was trying to be strong for his little sisters. But he himself was only a little boy. Darius spent the rest of the day with them, holding on to the only family he had left.

That night, a while after his nephew and nieces had left, Susan came to him.

"I… I was about to go to bed for the night, your majesty," he lied. He couldn't face her. He couldn't risk losing control of his senses twice. And in Cair Paravel where he'd be even more likely to be found out.

She somehow managed to slip under his arm, into his room. He sighed and closed the door. There was no arguing with the queen when her mind was decided. She turned to him and said, "Darius, I'm sorry. About… everything that happened. This silence between us is unbearable. I… I told Lucy about what happened. Don't worry, she'd never betray my confidence. She… she pointed out it was unfair of me to press you so, especially so soon after your sister's death. And for feelings that… that seemed to be not reciprocated. Let us be friends?"

Darius gripped the frame of his bed too hard. She walked over to him and placed her hands gently on the back of his shoulders. "Please, Darius."

"I must follow your command, your majesty," he said simply, not trusting himself enough to say more. _Remember, you're telling her no for her own good,_ he reminded himself. But it was so hard for him not to give in to her.

"Friendship cannot be commanded," she said softly, rubbing her thumbs against his back. Darius didn't want her to touch him. It made it impossible to think. Made it impossible to refuse her anything. He almost wondered if she was torturing him so on purpose.

"I… I need to ask you a favor," he finally decided. He needed to get away from her. That was the only way. It would keep her safe from him and him safe from giving in to her.

"I would do anything for a _friend_," Susan stressed, touching his face to turn it to her.

"Stop touching me!" he accidently snapped, angry at her transparent manipulation.

She drew back, startled and hurt. "You despise my touch now?" she asked so coldly he could practically feel the room ice over.

"It makes it impossible for me to think," he retorted, against his better judgment.

"So… you feel something between us too?" she said, a small smile beginning to form. Darius struggled with himself. How was he to answer that?

He finally decided on the truth. "Yes… but not enough to bridge the gap between us. You're the queen. I'm a well-known criminal and murderer. I tried to _kill_ you. And…that night I practically – "

"That is in the past," she interrupted before he could call that night what he saw it as. "But no one need know. If there's something between us… then we can easily be more than friends."

Darius finally snapped. "I'm not going to be your… your… concubinus! Your whore on the side as you have your string of fancy lords, Tarkaans, and princes courting you!"

Susan drew back. Darius could tell she was upset, but instead of feeling guilty he felt satisfied. _Finally something got through to her! _

"I… I hadn't thought of it like that," she said softly. "I… I'm sorry. I… I guess I hadn't been thinking about it from your point of view."

That though, did. Now Darius felt guilty for making her upset. And because that night wasn't Susan's fault. He drew her into a hug which she didn't resist. "I… I guess I'm not too angry about you asing. I mean, I guess it's normal for royalty to have a lover on this side… some even have entire harems."

"No!" Susan suddenly almost shouted, pushing him back. Darius looked at her, startled. "It…It's not like that… I don't think it is, at least. I would _never._ And you and I…I mean… if I was free to marry as I wish… I think then we'd have a chance of really working out."

Darius looked at her incredulously. Surely she didn't mean that! Of course he would want her if it had been any other situation, but so did almost every man. But why would she feel so strongly about him? And why would this feelings even form after he practically…. The word was so hard to even think.. He got her drunk and had sex with her. It was practically...

"You… you don't feel the same way about me?" she said in a small voice after he didn't respond.

"Of course I do!" he blurted out. "But so does every man who's spent even a second in your presence. I don't even understand why you would want… prison scum… like me around you."

"You're not prison scum," Susan protested.

"Then fine. A _rapist_," he retorted, finally getting the word out. "That night… I practically raped you. I got you drunk and slept with you. Do you realize how the rest of the world is going to see it?"

"That I came on to you and seduced you thanks to a patriarchal society?" she said dryly.

That wasn't actually what Darius was thinking, but she had a point. "Calormene, Telmar, and probably a handful of other countries would see it that way. Most actully… I… I'm sorry… I hadn't thought about that… I was thinking in terms of Narnia, where they would certainly see me as dishonoring their queen. And wouldn't be too far off," he said, choking a bit at the end. He couldn't imagine how his Narnian friends would view him if this ever got out. The amount of hate he got for trying to kill Susan would be nothing compared to this. He had no excuse of his family's lives being at risk to soften what he did this time.

"You're not a rapist," she said softly, running her fingers through his hair. He choked a little and pulled away. Why must her every move make him feel so insanely guilty?

"Even if you don't consider my night with you to be rape, I still am a rapist," he said. _That_ finally got through to her. She took several steps back, silently shaking her head no with wide eyes.

She finally said after several attempts, "Tell me about it."

"You don't want to know," he protested.

"Tell me," she said. He couldn't bear to look at her.

"I… she was a Calormene slavegirl. Her owner wanted to steal some information and hired me to help her. She pretends to be a normal Calormene slavegirl, exotic dancer, sex slave… but she's also an accomplished thief, assassin, and such. I was to help her track someone down so she could seduce him and slit his throat in bed. And one night, she suggested…she said she wouldn't mind making some money. Her owner allowed her that sort of freedom…And I was interested since she was similar enough to me to get me interested…I felt a bit guilty the next morning, but just shoved those feelings aside the same way I always did my guilt over my work. Trying to sooth my conscious saying it was her idea," he said. He felt like he was sinking with every word he said. She was going to despise him forever now. "It wasn't until Lisette pointed out that it was still taking advantage of her and therefore rape that I saw it as it was."

Susan's silence after his confession nearly killed him. She hated him, he just knew it. And worse, he knew he deserved it. Lisette would have been yelling at him if she was aroundBut then instead, she suddenly got up and wrapped her arms around his neck as if to comfort him.

"You're lucky to have had Lisette in your life. And as usual, you astound me with how much you've managed to turn your life around," she murmured. "Darius, far too many men frequent brothels and such, never realizing they're taking advantage of the women's lots in life. I'm glad you're different."

"Sleeping with you proved that to be untrue. I took advantage of you when I should have known you wouldn't have as high of a tolerance to alcohol as I do," he said, shaking under her touch.

"And you regretted it instantly. Which… is better many men. I should know," she said. He knew from her tone that there was more to what she was saying. He stayed quiet, knowing she'd eventually continue. Which she finally did after a long pause. "I… I've never told anyone before… but… several of our treaties, alliances… the diplomats… they come to me and ask for exchanges. A night with me, or if I perform something on them that they ask for.. then they'd concede some point… or be more generous with a compromise… And I do it. Because Narnia needed it… And I'd do anything for Narnia, even if it goes against all my morals."

"I'm so sorry," Darius said hoarsely.

"Not your fault," Susan said curtly. She went and sat down as if she had lost all energy. Darius went and knelt in front of her, wishing he knew how to respond to her. She rested her hand on his shoulder. He picked it up gently and kissed it. Somehow, that managed to make a tiny smile appear on her face. "Darius… with you… it was if it was the first time. Where the man I was sleeping wasn't just thinking of his own pleasure… where it felt equal… and fun. For the first time ever."

Darius didn't know what to say. "I… I know you'll find some man who could treat you right and that you'll enjoy being with. Who's someone you could actually marry. And… who would never take advantage of you. But.. we both know that man isn't me."

"I…If you hadn't also been drunk, you would have never. I know you better than that," she whispered, sliding off her chair and into his arms. Darius gulped. He know knew what he was going to do next. What he had to do. It was the only way to protect Susan from him. She didn't seem to realize how bad he was for her. And he had to do it know before he made yet another mistake. A mistake he was so sorely tempted to do with her in his arms right now, making it impossible to think straight.

"Ah, Susan… I need to ask you about that favor mentioned earlier," he said. "Before it gets too late in the night."

"What is it?"

"I would like permission to speak with Taire. To tell him about Lisette myself before another does. He…Lisette and I did spend a lot of time with him, and… I guess I just –"

"I understand," Susan said, looking only slightly disappointed as she stood up gracefully. "Right now? I can go down there and tell the guards to bring him out."

"I guess that works. Thank you, your majesty," he said. And she was good to her word, getting Bernadette and Killroy – _did seriously no one else ever guard the dungeons? Was this their entire life or something? _– to bring Taire to the visitation room immediately.

Taire raised his eyebrows when he saw Darius with Susan. Susan seemed to not notice and turned to Darius, "Darius, take as much time as you need. I'll leave the two of you alone for now." She then leaned in and whispered in his ear, "By the way, are we still on for you giving Lu and I combat lessons?"

Darius was amused. He had forgotten about that. "Sure," he lied. Susan smiled and held out her hand for him to kiss before leaving.

As soon as she left, Taire stretched out languidly in his chair and gave Darius a lazy grin and wagged his eyebrows. "So that's how you 'call in favors' to see me. Damn, didn't know you'd stoop that low."

"I have no clue what you're talking about," he said coldly.

"Oh, please. You're the queen's lover, aren't you?" he said with an annoying laugh. Darius seriously felt like punching him. "A male _whore._"

"No!" he shouted. _Is it that obvious that we slept together? _

"Whatever, Dar. She's gorgeous. I bet she's good in bed," he sneered. "I'm almost tempted to see if she's interested in having another."

That did it. No one was going to speak of Queen Susan like that. Darius actually punched him. Taire managed to duck enough to soften it, but Darius still made contact. Taire stared at him in shock for a moment, before beginning to annoyingly laugh again, "Darius, I never thought _you'd_ be stupid enough to fall in love. Especially the likes of _her_."

Darius was stung. He wasn't in love with her…was he? They were just weirdly interested in each other against all better judgment. After all, there weren't many other humans in Narnia. Maybe that would explain it. The idea of the queen being in love with the likes of him was preposterous. He hissed, "I only slept with her once. And we were both drunk. We're _not_ lovers."

"Sure, whatever you said," Taire said agreeably, clearly not buying it, even though it was entirely true. "Why did you come down here anyways?"

"Lisette's dead," Darius said flatly. Taire froze in his languorous position, before slowly moving to sitting with his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands.

"She's dead?" he asked. Darius was shocked to see that Taire was genuinely upset. Was he even… _crying? _So much for his tough-guy, care about nothing attitude. "How'd it happen?"

Darius told him every detail.

"Aslan?" Taire asked dubiously.

"Lisette would never lie to me," Darius said harshly.

"I… even if he is real… he's probably just another talking lion," Taire said uncertainly, his cockily demeanor still shaken. "So you wanna hunt him down for revenge?"

"How'd you guess so fast?" Darius frowned.

"Dar, I_ know_ you. Don't worry. Those idealistic Narnians would never guess it. So get me out of here," Taire said eagerly.

"What?"

Taire went back to his indolent posture and said, "You need me, and I want revenge for Lisette's death as much as you do. I've heard rumors of him being in Galma. Let's go."

"Fine," Darius said. He new he couldn't exactly expect any of his new Narnian friends to help him. Even Lisette's children didn't seem to blame anyone for her death. And he was kinda hoping Taire would go with him, but preferred his old friend and mentor to think it was his own idea. "I'll… I'll probably be able to convince them to let you out for a day or something. And then we'll make a break for it then."

"Well it seems like – hey, who are you and how long have you been there?" Taire suddenly said. Darius looked slightly behind him to the door and gulped. Edmund was leaning against the wall in the shadows of the dimly lit room, with an unusual-looking dagger in his hand, although he wasn't holding it in a particularly threateningly manner.

"King Edmund," he said with a bow. He kept his head down so that Edmund wouldn't see the guilty look upon his face.

"Long enough," Edmund said in reference to Taire's question as he strode forward with an indecipherable small frown.


	19. Before the Kings and Queens

**Just to clarify, Darius is meant to be more of an antihero than a hero in this fic. Just because he's the protagonist doesn't automatically mean he is the hero! If anyone is, then it would probably be Lisette. Whether he eventually redeems himself and becomes the hero he's struggling to become…well, you'll just have to see! **

**Almost done! Only 1 more chapter after this one (with a sequel/spin-off story to follow)! Sorry if this chapter is a bit slower than most, since it involved a lot of tying up loose ends. **

"Long enough, sire?" Darius asked hoarsely.

"I heard everything about you wanting to kill Aslan," Edmund clarified. Darius would have never guessed that hearing one of the Narnian kings saying that was a relief, but it meant he didn't hear about Susan. If he had, surely he would have mentioned that first. But he was still likely in a hug vat of trouble. He bit his lip and knelt in front of the younger king, expecting at the very least a reprimand.

Oddly, Edmund asked, "Were you planning on going with Taire because you particularly wanted him, or because you believed him your only option?"

"Ah…" Darius began, confused by the question. "Both, I guess, sire. We have worked together effectively in the past."

Edmund seemed to be thinking it over, looking over Taire who thankfully had enough tact to kneel. "I'm actually leading an envoy there in a few weeks. I could move it up to a few days after the memorial service Susan's been planning for Lisette. I could use two more crew members."

Taire and Darius both just stared at him in confusion. Darius slowly asked in disbelief, "You _want_ us to kill him?"

"By the Mane, no!" he said. "But, you going to seek him might do you some good. And I rather you travel there legitimately rather than having to resort to your previous, illegal work. And we could use another crew member."

"Really?" Darius said. "You… you aren't angry, sire?"

"If it wasn't for her, it would be _my_ older sister who would be dead," Edmund said solemnly. He then leaned down and placed his hands on Darius' shoulders. Darius grew more confused when Edmund kissed him on the top of his head. It was the sign of the king's favor, which Darius hardly felt he deserved, especially now that Edmund knew his treacherous plans. "I'm not going to hold you to anything you're doing out of grief. But I hope you find peace quickly."

Darius wondered just how far that statement went. He highly doubted he meant all the way to the point of drunken sex with Susan. Edmund extended a hand to lift Darius up.

"Wait, back up a bit," Taire said incredulously. "So your idea is that so he doesn't do something illegal, you're just going to make the same thing legal?"

Edmund chuckled and said, "Something like that. And since you seem unnecessary now – "

"Wait, I want to avenge Lisette," Taire said with a sneer.

"I only take crew members I trust," Edmund said, waving him off. "And you even lie to your friend, so how could I trust you?"

"What are you talking about?" Taire protested.

"I was informed that you told him you were unaware of the identity of the spy here. And yet one of the times I was vaguely conscious, they made comments from which I know you are well informed about the spies identity. I highly recommend you give us that information before your trial for a more lenient sentence. Particularly since we are determined to get that information one way or another," Edmund said sternly. "Guards!"

The two minotaurs came in. "Bring him back to his cell for now. But Darius has my permission to see him whenever." Darius raised an eyebrow. After hearing them plan a possible escape, he was simply going to let Darius have unlimited access to visiting Taire?

When Edmund wasn't looking, Taire mouthed to Darius while being dragged out, "Is he crazy?" Darius couldn't help a tiny smirk. Taire must be going through the same disbelief of their kindness that Darius had when he was first here.

"Please, sire. He.. if it pleases your majesty… may he come?" Darius asked. Taire _was_ the better tracker. And Darius wanted someone by his side who was against Aslan as well.

Edmund bit his lip, thinking about it. "Clearly, it doesn't please me… but...I'll allow it, however I'm holding you responsible for any of his actions then. And try to get the information out of him if you can. Anyways, I came down here because Susan told me you were here, and I wanted to give this to you personally."

He handed the unusual dagger in his hand over to him. Darius rolled it over in his hands a few times, being careful with the newly sharp blade. He was having trouble deciding if this was a Narnian blade or an Archenland one. As if reading his mind, Edmund clarified, "It's a mix of Narnian and Archenland styles. Since you're an Archenlander by birth and used to that type of hilt, but we all see you as one of us. It's a thank you gift. I had actually had a dwarf start working on it after you saved Peter's life from that assassin. I… I should probably think of a better way of saying thank you for all you did for me."

"No, it's more than I deserve," Darius said with a lump in his throat. Their kindness as usual made him feel so unworthy. Especially the thought that he was seen as one of them. He almost refused the dagger, but he wanted it too much. The craftwork was simply incredible by both Archenland and Narnian standards. And he didn't even want to think of how expensive the materials in it cost.

"Darius, you deserve this," Edmund said, squeezing his shoulder. When Darius stared at the knife blankly rather than looking up at him, he said, "Darius, is this about you almost killing Halgor out of revenge? Is that why you feel you don't deserve our thanks?"

It was a small part of it, but it was a convenient lie to cover up the truth. "Yes, sire."

"But you _didn't _do it. You were at the very tipping point of temptation and managed to stop yourself. I – I don't know many who could," Edmund said.

"I… I wish you would stop painting my actions as heroic. I ended up almost getting both of us executed. And… and I wasn't even permitted to leave in the first place," he protested.

"But if you hadn't, I might have never been found in time," Edmund said."But I do agree that you weren't the main hero of that day. That honor belongs entirely to your sister."

That last statement Darius couldn't argue with. His sister deserved all the attention. She hadn't broken any rules or been a drunken idiot. She had been traveling legitimately with the queen and given her life without a second thought. He wished it would have been him who died that day. Lisette was a true hero and deserved to live. Even though the Narnians would never think it, they would be better off without him. "She was so much better than me. She should have lived, not me."

To his shock, Edmund pulled him into a hug. After, he looked Darius straight in the eye and said, "Then let her live on through you. Don't forget her and what she taught you, Darius. You have a good heart. Don't ever lose that."

"I don't have a good heart," he mumbled.

He though he had spoken too low for the king to hear, but he said, "You've saved both mine and Peter's life."

"And would have taken Susan's and Peter's. Killed Sirius' father. And – "

"Enough! That is in the past," Edmund protested. "It is not your present, and I hope not your future."

* * *

><p>Susan's maids had just finished helping her dress the next morning when there was a knock at her door. One of the maids answered it, saying it was "that mercenary savior." Susan couldn't resist a small smile at one of the many oxymoronic names many of the Narnians had began calling him. She decided to meet him in her study so the maids wouldn't overhear.<p>

"I'm glad you're here. I talked with Ed late last night. He suspects," she said.

"Suspects?" he asked.

"That I crave more than friendship with you," she explained.

"He does?"

"He brought up my insistence on trying to make you seem innocent during interrogations, when he caught me running my fingers through your hair when Sirius hurt you, catching us when we came back from secret fighting lessons, those sorts of things," she explained.

"I… I hadn't thought about all that," he said.

"Neither had I. But… I almost feel like … that first night… In the woods. I… I'm not so stupid as to go wander off all the time, but I felt like I had to follow… and I know now that when you need to, you wouldn't hesitate in acting. You could have easily killed me," she said hardly knowing what she was saying. Perhaps deep conversations the morning after going to sleep in the wee hours of the morning wasn't the best idea.

"Your majesty… if you're saying it was some sort of love at first sight sort of story, that's the most messed up story I've ever heard," Darius said slowly, testing her reaction to his potentially offensive words. But Susan couldn't help laughing a bit hysterically.

"You're probably right," she said, running her hand up and down his arm. "Anyways, Ed said you had something I should hear from you?"

"I… I'm leaving," he said.

She drew back. "What do you mean you're leaving?" she asked sharply.

"King Edmund is sending me to Galma," he said, unsure how much to tell her. But Susan was smarter than that.

"And?" she prompted.

"And what?"

"That's not the sole reason."

"I…There's rumors of Aslan there," he began. Susan sighed. She should have known he wouldn't keep to his promise of not seeking revenge. "King Edmund thinks it'll be healing for me…"

"Darius, I think we're well past lying and hiding our faults from each other," Susan prompted. She directed his face so he was looking her in the eye. She hated how protocol dictated others shouldn't look her in the eye. She always found that it was easier to tell if someone was lying when able to look in their eyes.

Darius' lips pulled into a thin smile. "Well, that wasn't completely a lie. Just… a partial truth. But… I swore revenge on Aslan that day. Pretty much the moment everyone had left."

He was looking shamefaced at the floor, but Susan was just glad he had told her. She leaned forward to pull him into a hug. To her surprise, he didn't resist at all. He must be more shaken up by everything than she had realized.

"Ed's right about the healing bit. You need help. I wish it was help that I could give you, but I … I can't. But Aslan can," she said softly.

"Thank you, my queen. You… you're too gentle with me," he said quietly.

She smiled. "It's what I'm known for. I… I wish you didn't have to leave though."

"No one here needs me. Even my nephews and nieces don't, thanks to having a new family," he said darkly.

She grabbed his hand and stroked it with her thumb. "Having a new family won't replace you. And we all need you. But not like this. You…you need Aslan. But I… I'm just afraid of being away from you for so long."

"You of all people don't need me. You're the queen," he said, just a touch of bitterness apparent in his voice. She quickly searched for a reason that could convince him that she needed him.

"What if I'm pregnant?" she blurted out.

Oddly, he winced as if the idea caused him pain. She wasn't sure what to say, but decided to proceed anyways. "What is it? You hate the idea of a child? Would… would you not support me?"

"No! I mean yes, I would be there for the child and love it wholly if there is one. It's just…My sister… that's how she ended up with her sh***y husband. One night, and she was pregnant with Pheneus. And she couldn't provide for Phen alone, so she married that scoundrel who made promises to support her that of course he didn't keep. As for the child, no, of course not. Of course I love Pheneus and the girls. It's that lowlife I despise. But… it's different for you. Anyone and everyone would help your majesty," he said, turning away. She pulled him into another comforting hug. By the Mane, there was so much about him and Lisette that she was still only just learning. "You could never admit it's mine anyways. We'd both be ruined forever."

"Then what?" she asked.

"You… you could pretend Peridan was the father. He's a high-enough rank and would do it for us," Darius suggested. Susan considered it. But if she did get pregnant and owned up to it being Darius'…the Narnians would still accept the child as her heir…most of them weren't used to human mating styles and wouldn't realize how inappropriate it was… it was just the foreign countries that would be the problem. And Darius would be gone when she found out, so he couldn't protest otherwise.

"I suppose," she lied.

"But chances are nothing will come of it anyways. And what exactly were you planning to claim all those times you've slept with other men if you became pregnant?" Darius said accusingly.

Susan flinched angrily. "I didn't _sleep_ with them for that very reason," she hissed.

Darius drew back. "But… you said the other day."

"They wished for… other … favors… which they wanted just as much or perhaps even more," she said, feeling nauseated by the memories of it. Darius' eyes grew wide as he understood what she meant. She then noticed his eyes travel to her mouth and realized she was absentmindedly rubbing it. Well. That was a dead giveaway to one of the types of "favors."

"I… I'm so sorry," he said, pulling her into a hug. Susan was delighted that for once he was reaching to her, rather than always the other way around, even though this was the last possible subject she wanted to speak about. "I wish I could help you somehow. Avenge you…If… if you ever change your mind and need the men disposed of or something…"

"Then I'd ask someone else rather than tempt you back into your old ways," Susan said firmly, stroking his cheek with her finger. He bowed his head, seeming cowed by the reference. She instantly felt sorry for him again. She brushed some hair aside and kissed his forehead gently.

"I… I really hope seeking Aslan helps you," she said.

"Thank you, your majesty," he said stiffly.

She got up to show him out. "I… I just wanted to say again, I'm so sorry that your sister died for me. I wish… If I had know – "

"If you had known, you would have still gone along with it. Narnia needs you more," he said gruffly.

"I – I'm sorry," she said, feeling helpless.

"Not your fault," he repeated emptily. She placed a finger beneath his chin to raise his eyes to hers. His eyes were glistening with tears. She pulled him into a tight hug, rubbing his back in a desperate attempt to give him any comfort she could. To her surprise, he placed his head on her shoulder like a young child. She idly wondered what would happen to her brothers if she or Lucy were to die. But that wasn't the same… There were four of them, so there would be three of them to comfort each other. Darius only had Lisette. She kissed his neck, feeling sorry for him. He pulled his head back, looking at her, one of the rare occurrences where he actually met her eyes voluntarily. Impulsively, she leaned forward and caught his lips in a gentle, chaste kiss. His hands instinctively went to her hair, stroking it slowly as they kissed. She wrapped her arms around his waist to pull him in tighter and their kissing became more frantic. But then they both pulled away quickly, realizing what a bad idea that was. It might seem innocent now, but they both knew if they didn't stop now, they might be fools again.

"I… I should go," he said shakily.

"That… that's probably for the best," she responded in the same shaky voice. He bowed and kissed her hand, all the familiarity gone and replaced with cool politeness.

* * *

><p>Darius gritted his teeth as he saw Susan dancing with the Telmarine prince at Peter's and Aiyanna's wedding. He had come to court a few days earlier, claiming he just happened to be in the area and decided to stop by for the wedding. Darius wasn't believing a word of it. The prince was supposed to be on his return trip home from Calormen. Narnia was nowhere near where he should be sailing. He was clearly here to court Susan.<p>

"Prince Boring," a voice suddenly said quietly, dragging Darius out of his jealous thoughts.

"W-What?" Darius said. Lucy was standing right next to him with Helena asleep in her arms.

"He's been here before. We call him Prince Boring behind his back. Susan included. Since he's _sooo_ boring. No personality at all, except for what advisors tell him his personality is. Susan hates being around him. So you can stop glaring angrily at him," Lucy said softly with a giggle.

He paled. Lowering his voice, he asked, "It's that obvious?"

"So obvious. How about you leave before anyone notices who might actually cause trouble for you?" she suggested. "Or I could dance with you again. But people might question us dancing twice. But hey, that would distract from those who are noticing you and Susan."

_Just another reason it's not good for me to be around Susan now. As if I needed any more,_ he thought sourly.

"I… I don't have a good excuse for leaving early," he said, unable to tear his eyes away from the scene in front of him. Susan was either clearly interested in him no matter what Lucy said, or a rather good actress.

"Your niece – well my niece now too since they adopted her – is asleep. How about you bring her to her room for the night?" she suggested, claiming his attention again.

He nodded and took the little girl to her room. Partway there, he realized he was going the wrong way. As the High King's adoptive daughter, she had just been moved to the royal wing. He sighed. The last place he should be right now. At least the royals should all be down at the wedding. But as he passed a window, he saw a strange sight. Aiyanna was outside, talking with a centauride. The bride of the wedding was the last person who should have been sneaking out. He considered going down to see what was going on, but Aiyanna then began walking back to the wedding party.

* * *

><p>"Darius," Susan said softly when she found him practically hiding in the corner. "Is something wrong with your sister's memorial?" He turned away, but Susan stayed, adamant to get an answer from him.<p>

"My parents never got any sort of funeral at all," he finally confessed. "Their bodies were thrown in a potter's field since they only had Lisette and me and we of course couldn't pay."

Susan wished there weren't so many eyes on them, keeping her from holding him. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

"Not your fault," he mumbled, for what felt like the millionth time. "I… Thank you for.. all of this," he said, gesturing to the creatures gather and the ever growing pile of flowers they had brought. "She would have loved it."

"Then stop hiding in the shadows," she said softly. "I'm sure several here wish to speak with you."

"You bet," Arianis said, sidling up to them and nuzzling Darius' arm. "Come on. Or I'll drag you in."

"At least do it for Pheneus, Bria, and Helena," Susan pleaded. He relented, but Susan could tell he still wasn't eager to participate. She watched him as he made an attempt at socialization, but could tell this memorial was hard on him. He wasn't ready to tell Lisette goodbye. Probably never would be. Even though it made no sense, she almost felt jealous. Darius clearly cared about his sister much more than her. She knew it wasn't fair to think that way. After all, she absolutely cared about her brothers much more than him. But she still was sad she couldn't be what his sister was to him. She wasn't what inspired him to be a better person. Rather, she was bad for him. More of a drug than a cure.

* * *

><p>"Uncle? Uncle!" Bria called as she pushed the door open.<p>

"What's going on?" he asked, picking her up and swinging her around and into his arms. He noticed some scratching and bruising on her left arm and asked, "What happened here?"

"Oh, Aunt Susan said I'm old enough to start learning archery. And she also said I should ask you to start me on other weapons when you return from your trip. But right now, the Hi- I mean, Peter sent me. You're needed in the Throne Room."

"The Throne Room?" he asked nervously. "What's happening in there?"

"Not sure. Pheneus has done this sort of stuff before since he was Ki-Peter's squire. He says their holding court. They've been doing things like holding trials, hearing petitions, those sorts of things."

"So legal stuff…" He gulped slightly when he realized that they must be dealing with – _what did King Edmund call it? _– his contractual breach. He hadn't actually been that worried about it until now. He assumed it would be their normal magnanimous ways, but the Throne Room implied it would be much more serious this time.

"Peter didn't seem angry," Bria said when she saw her uncle's reaction. "Come on!"

She took his hand into her tiny ones and led him down to a side room by the Throne Room.

When the guard opened the door and beckoned to him, Darius entered and slowly walked to the middle of the room. The four rulers were sitting in their thrones, flanked by the jury. Pheneus was by Peter's side as his squire. Despite not being Peter's successor and therefore not a prince, it seemed the Narnians had still outfitted Pheneus in attire too rich for simply a squire, much more appropriate for a prince. Pheneus seemed to be trying to look over Peter's shoulder to figure out what was going on. Peter seemed to notice and moved the paper in his hand away from him. Darius had a good guess though that it was likely the contract that forbade him from leaving Cair Paravel. Lucy gave him a friendly little wave. Edmund was impassive, his face leaving no hints. But Darius' eyes rested mainly on Susan. He knew if she felt strongly about it, she could persuade her siblings to go along with her. And he doubted she would let anything to bad happen to him. But right now, she wouldn't look at him. She was carefully looking towards Peter, refusing to look at Darius for even a second. His heart plummeted. Wouldn't she want to assure him if the verdict was likely to be good? Why wouldn't she look at him?


	20. Farewells

**Ahh! It's been about a month! Usually I'm better about updating this story more regularly. But I had issues with making this chapter work. On the bright side though, I took a break from it to start writing the first chapter of the sequel, so that's likely going to be posted in a week or so. I hope you all continue reading that one too! Thank you so much for sticking this story out to the end. **

Susan had no idea what Peter was up to. When she went to speak to him before, he merely said, "It doesn't matter." How did Darius' punishment not matter? Granted, she was much more invested in it than she should be, but all four of them cared.

Darius was ushered in by the guards, but Susan's eyes were still on her brother. She didn't want to see if Darius blamed her for this. She felt obligated to protect him, but had no clue if she had succeeded or failed. She kept searching Peter's face for any sort of hint.

Peter finally began with an even voice, "We have brought you here to review your possible contractual breach."

Susan frowned. Possible? That made little sense to her. It wasn't exactly a grey matter that they could discuss.

"The jury will decide whether such a breach occurred or not after hearing the witness," he said, gesturing towards where distinguished guests were, a small smile appearing on his lips, much to Susan's surprise. Aiyanna stood and walked to the center of the room.

"I was unaware of the restraints of his contract and gave the accused some rather confusing instructions. He was telling me that he believed only another who is familiar with mercenary business would have a good chance of tracking King Edmund. I agreed, and told him I believed he should go. I gave him instructions on how to use my blossom to seek help from my trees," she said calmly, the lies coming easily to her. Although, it was very close to the truth. Susan marveled at how easily the lies fit inside events which had actually occurred. As if Aiyanna had wanted this to work out so perfectly. But it had to all be some strange coincidence, of course. Susan couldn't imagine Aiyanna coming up with that sort of scheming. She just didn't seem that… complex.

Another thought struck Susan and diverted her attention. Peter had said that punishment for Darius didn't matter. And if Darius was in fact cleared of all charges, then Susan's suggestions for how to avoid actually punishing Darius were in fact irrelevant.

Well. That was better, even though she was still annoyed with him. Peter still could have just told her that rather than make her worry so much.

"So now the matter is, at the time she gave these instructions, she was not yet my Queen Consort. The jury must decided whether as the Dryad Crown Princess, the accused should have followed her authority," Peter said. Susan breathed in relief. With Aiyanna only recently joining the Narnian court as Peter's wife, the Narnians all wanted to make her feel comfortable and please her. To judge against Darius could be construed as an insult against her, so it was unlikely to go sour.

"Does the accused have anything he wishes to add?" Edmund said.

"No, sire," Darius said, looking astonished at the turn of events. Susan couldn't help smiling. Darius could get off without the slightest punishment, and no one could complain about it one bit. Assuming the jury's recommendation went in their favor. If it didn't, they could just ignore the recommendation anyways. But it was significantly less controversial if they would simply recommend clearing the charges.

When the jury returned, a raven read out the verdict in a shrill voice, "The jury recommends to clear the accused of the charges brought up against him."

There was a surprising amount of distinctly Narnian cheering – excited barking and roars, twittering, hoof stomping – at the verdict. But saving Edmund's life had boosting Darius' popularity amongst the Narnians significantly. A few still seemed disgruntled. But Susan was encouraged to see that a clear majority of those present had accepted Darius as one of them.

Peter raised a hand for silence. "We accept the jury's suggestion and clear him off all charges. And since no crime has been committed, perhaps a reward for his actions is in order."

Evidently he hadn't told anyone of this for everyone's faces betrayed surprise. "Darius," Peter continued. "You have been naught but loyal to us since you began living here. Your presence as our guard has potentially discouraged many attackers. Furthermore, both my brother and I have you to thank for our lives. Therefore, I have elected to remove my name from your contract."

"As do I," Susan said, practically jumping to her feet. A second later, she realized she should have waited a moment longer to keep the pretense of not being too close to Darius. But thankfully, Edmund and Lucy were quick to follow.

"And I," Edmund said.

"And I," Lucy said eagerly.

Peter nodded to them. "With all names revoked from the contract, it is now voided." He handed the paper to Pheneus. "Burn it." Pheneus looked all too happy to comply as he practically skipped over to the large fireplace and used a poker to ensure that it burned as quickly as possible. Several Narnians cheered again. As it was the last court case, the assemble began dispersing.

In a nearby room, they met up together. Peter kissed Aiyanna on the cheek and said, "You were incredible."

She smiled thinly and deflected the attention, saying, "Well, it was your idea."

"Not exactly. I mean, you practically suggested it," he said nonchalantly. He turned to Darius who had been hesitantly lingering by the door. "Do you have a question for us?"

"Oh, no, your majesty," he said slowly. Susan just gave him a look, knowing he was clearly not being honest. He then said, "Well… I … I just wanted to be sure…"

"Yes?" Lucy prompted.

"Am I still welcome here? Because if I do not have the contract, then I'm essentially a foreigner."

"But of course!" Lucy exclaimed, running up and hugging him.

"You're free to leave, but we do hope you will stay to work for us," Peter said, crossing to him and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I wish to work for you," Darius said automatically.

"Excellent. We can negotiate salaries and such tomorrow morning. And then tomorrow night I trust you still wish to accompany me to Galma?" Edmund said cheerfully. "And with Taire? As much as I rather _not_ have him along."

"Yes, please, sire," he said anxiously. Edmund nodded, although he still seemed annoyed by the inclusion of Taire.

"When you return, we can talk about the possibility of citizenship if you wish to become officially Narnian," Lucy said, clapping her hands together eagerly. She then backtracked and covered her mouth anxiously. "Oh! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to imply anything was wrong with you being Archenlander. In fact, maybe you could have citizenship for both!"

Darius couldn't help laughing a little at the youngest queen's antics. "I've never really been comfortable being an Archenlander. I…I don't deserve to be a citizen of Narnia, but I truly wish I could be."

Darius thought the matter was dropped, but then Susan showed up to his room, a letter in hand, saying, "You're wrong, you know," the moment she was inside.

"Wrong?"

"About not deserving to be a Narnian citizen. I've never seen a human more Narnian. Other than the four of us, I mean," she said. Her free hand strayed almost absentmindedly to play with his hair.

"Really?" he said dubiously.

"You consider Arianis your closest friend, correct? The few humans here all consider another human friend their closest friend. And you never had issues with respecting the authority of non-humans. Usually it takes a little time to get used to the idea of a superior being a mouse or a bird or such," she said.

"I…It didn't seem that unusual, my queen," he said honestly. "That, and according to that contract, I could have been killed if I had respected them."

Susan simply smiled. "You never do give yourself enough credit."

_Why does she always do this?_ he thought.

"To make up for the fact that you four give me far too much credit," he muttered darkly. "And how can I be Narnian when I plan to try to kill Aslan? Or do you honestly think I won't try?"

"I think….I think that you'll understand once you've met Aslan."

Darius turned away from her, shaking his head. He didn't understand them. Maybe if he was really as Narnian as they made him out to be, then he might understand. But how could he be Narnian when the only being he hated more than Aslan was Halgor?

"Anyways, I came here to tell you goodbye in private before you leave tomorrow," she said, sitting on the edge of his bed and tucking her legs beneath her. She patted the bed next to her, inviting him to sit close to her. He was more than delighted to oblige.

"I'm going to miss you, my queen," he said fervently, grabbing her hand and pressing a kiss to her knuckles. He loosened his hold on her hand, but didn't quite let it go. Susan didn't try to remove it.

"I..I'm going to miss you too. But I'm glad you're going. With you there, I won't be nearly as worried about my brother."

"He has many other, more qualified guards than I," Darius protested.

"Perhaps. But you're the one who risked everything to travel to Archenland for him," she said. "But… I don't understand why."

"You're going to think me kinda stupid for it, but… after you were so angry with me, I… I had to convince you I tried my hardest any way I could. And… and I knew he was important to you. It's clear you value your family's lives more than your own. So… I did it for you. And because I owe you four… everything. And if it had taken my life, then so be it. I only have my life because your majesties allowed it." _Yikes, that's morbidly romantic,_ he thought to himself.

"And _that_ is why I would rather entrust my brother's life to you more so than anyone."

He just didn't understand her sometimes. He changed the subject to something safer.

"I…I've been working on something to give you, your majesty. It's not done yet, but since I'm going away… It's not much, but…"

She followed him as he went to his desk drawer. He pulled out a crudely-made hairpin with a flower decoration on it. "It's not pretty enough for you, but…"

"Seriously?" she said crossly. "And here I was thinking you were different from others in realizing that I'm not an empty-headed, shallow fool of a queen won over by pretty baubles."

He couldn't help chuckling a bit at her glare. He put his hands over hers to work it and said, "Then you'd be pleased to know that when you rotate the petals left, the end pokes out to reveal its deadly poisonous tip for usage by my warrior queen so uninterested in pretty things."

Much to his amusement, she literally squealed. He rotated the petals back to the right to close it and helped her pin it in her hair. "This is so perfect!" she gushed. "Thank you so much! I… I wish I had thought to bring something for you."

"No need. Just wondering though… what's with the letter, your majesty?" he asked curiously, changing the subject quickly before she could try to give him anything.

"Oh! I just got it on my way here. It's from King Lune. Apparently, his wife died," she said sadly.

"Attacked?" He might not be very fond of Archenland nobility and royalty, but as a native Archenlander, he still was somewhat disturbed by the information.

"No, natural causes. He's asking me to visit for a month while they're in turmoil. Since I just got the letter, I haven't spoken with my siblings yet, but I plan to go. I might see if Peter will sanction me taking Pheneus too, since it would be good for the two boys to talk with each other," she said. The unspoken words _because he just lost his mother too. _were clear to Darius.

"As usual, you're too kind to others," he said, brushing her hair back. Of course she would go. She could never say no to anyone who she thought needed her help. Sometimes he wondered if that was the only basis for her interest was that he constantly needed her help.

"Well, it'll be good for strengthening our relationship with Archenland," she said.

"Mhmm," he said, wishing he could think of something witty to make her stay longer since it seemed she was ready to leave soon.

After several moments of awkward silence, Susan said, "You and Ed being gone for sixth months is going to feel like forever."

"More than long enough for you to find yourself a husband," he said sourly. He instantly regretted saying so. But the thought had been pestering him in the back of his mind.

"I…I won't lie, it's possible. But… but…" she said.

"But what?"

She babbled, "I…I don't even know. There isn't really any silver lining for you. It's not fair for you. I… I should have never shown you my interest in you. I'm so sor– "

Darius cut her off by grabbing her and kissing her, hard. He pulled back when he heard her gasp, saying, "I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I mean..Did… did I hurt you?"

"No, it felt good," she said breathlessly. "But… why?"

"I…In case this is the last chance we get. I'll probably regret it later, but…I…I'll miss this," he whispered, hating himself more with every word he said. "I…I… never mind. Your majesty, I shouldn't – "

Susan cut him off with a kiss with a startling ferocity for one so much smaller than him, nearly knocking him over. He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her to her toes. He didn't know how long they were in this embrace. But for once, everything felt right. Making the thought that some other man might come in and take her away all the more unbearable.

"I…I really ought to go now," Susan finally said, pulling away. "Well… farewell."

"Farewell," was all he could manage.

But there was so much more he wanted to say. Who knew if when he returned there would be the chance to say anything? But he simply bowed and kissed her hand as she swept out.

Susan stared as the ship left. Lucy smiled and rubbed her shoulder.

"They'll come back safe, I'm sure. They'll both keep an eye out for each other," Lucy said quietly. Nothing that she said particularly made it clear that Susan was almost as worried about Darius as she was her brother. But no use in possibly raising suspicions with strange statements.

"Do you think it's possible? To kill Aslan?" she suddenly said.

"Shh," Lucy reminded. "And you must have more faith than that. I'm sure Aslan will be able to help him. Remember, wrong will be right_, _when Aslan comes in sight."

"At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more," Susan said. Darius had been carrying sorrows for far too long. She desperately hoped Aslan would heal his pain.

"And then the part that always bothers you by not really rhyming," Lucy teased. "Sh, here comes Pete."

"Sisters," he greeted. "I hope Edmund leaving hasn't hurt you too much."

"I'm sure he'll be safe, Aslan willing," Lucy said cheerfully, her faith as strong as ever.

"Anyways, I have some… news. I don't know whether to call it good or bad news," he said, holding out a decorated letter. "Milkywing just delivered it."

"About what?" Susan asked, taking the letter with Lucy leaning over her shoulder.

"The Calormens are interested in possibly creating an alliance and wish to start sending ambassadors to talk with us," he said slowly. Susan's eyebrow lifted. Calormens? They had been rather clear about their hatred of Narnia. Part of Narnia's eagerness for an alliance with Archenland was to have an ally against a possible Calormene attack which could have easily taken them out by their sheer size.

Lucy said, "But Peter, that's great news!"

"Well… the nature of the alliance is what makes whether it's good news or not more… questionable," he said.

"And that it?" Susan said, unrolling it. Something about it made her strangely nervous.

"They want to come and see you, to talk of a possible marriage between you and Prince Rabadash," Peter said, carefully watching her face to judge her reaction.

Susan turned to watch the ship that was slowly disappearing from sight. When Darius mentioned that she might have a husband by the time she returned, she hadn't taken it too seriously. But an alliance with Calormen, the greatest empire was invaluable. They were Narnia's greatest foe. She couldn't dismiss this lightly. And especially not for the sake of a few trysts with a man she could never marry.

"You can entertain the ambassadors whilst I am in Archenland," Susan decided.

"We're trying to find some reason to get rid of them, _right_?" Lucy said anxiously, knowing Calormen life would never suit her sister. And possibly the romantic part of her hoped for a happy future between Susan and Darius. But Susan valued peace over her own preference.

"No. But delay them for as long as you can. And… I'll agree to nothing until I meet their prince for myself," she said decisively. "But I certainly see a high probability of agreeing to such an alliance. We most certainly need it."

When Lucy got a moment alone with Susan, she confronted her. "What about Darius?"

"What about him? He's just a good friend I had some feelings for and had a fling with. He's not a man I could marry," she insisted.

"There's more to it than that," Lucy insisted. "You definitely care for him more than that. And the same for how he feels about you."

"Don't be ridiculous," Susan insisted.

"And even if that wasn't the case, _Calormen_? You know what we hear of how they treat their woman, of how they treat the poor!" she exclaimed.

"And they have stories of how barbaric we are which aren't true either," Susan insisted. "Or if they are, then perhaps it's my destiny to improve life there too! Either way, I am going to entertain this thought. We need this alliance. And as for Darius... he'll get over it, no problem. Same for me getting over him."

As a rather unnecessarily agitated Susan stormed out, she heard Lucy call almost angrily, "Are you trying to convince me or convince yourself?"

**Sequel will pick up a bit before Darius returns to Narnia, starting with introducing a new OC. If you couldn't guess from the letter from the Calormens, the story will circle around the plot of **_**The Horse and His Boy, **_**although I'll try to keep from repeating scenes from the book itself. It'll be a challenge, but I plan to work this story into canon rather than changing canon to fit this. **

**Any requests for what you want to see in the sequel? A few have requested more Lucy who I anticipated being a larger character later on, but I can incorporate more scenes with her earlier. A few people requested more romance… well, yes, but not exactly normal romance. Never normal. And ResOmnesBereFacere morbidly wants more death scenes… which is the one thing I can promise will absolutely happen. Possibly more than one character.  
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**If it's not letting you review, please PM or review as guest!  
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**And… just because I love torturing you all with cliffhangers and such, here are some teasers for the sequel from scenes I've had in my mind for quite some time (all names have been omitted to pronouns): **

"You decided to come _here _of all places? Are you crazy? Who's your target, anyways?"

She pushed him so his back was against the wall and raised a knife against his throat threateningly.

He chuckled. "Are you trying to kill me or seduce me?"

"I have a knife to your throat. Which do you think?"

"So, the latter?"

* * *

><p>"Can't you see? This is my chance. To finally do something good," she said, her face shining bright.<p>

"Not if you _die_ from taking such a foolish risk."

"Don't be such a pessimist."

"Then don't be such an idealist."

* * *

><p>He knelt before her, his hand caressing her stomach in amazement. "I…Why did you think I would be angry?"<p>

"Because… there's… there's something more I need to tell you," she said, bracing herself. He must have jumped to the wrong conclusion. Which would only make him angrier.

* * *

><p>"I'm not so sure I can keep this a secret…" she said, backing away.<p>

"You promised anything, no matter how bad it might be!"

"I didn't think you would take it so literally!"

* * *

><p>"Unhand me! What do you think you are doing?" she said furiously.<p>

"You're being brought to the court room," he said in a monotone voice. It was clear he didn't want to do this.

"You haven't the right," she insisted.

"If we didn't do something after witnessing this, I think we would be punished more for our silence than for this," another said, backing him up.

* * *

><p>"I might just have… you know…didn't mean to do it… done… something to make Telmar hate us," she said awkwardly. "Possibly spark a war depending on how over reactive they are."<p>

"What would that be?" he asked anxiously.

"I'm sure I can smooth over anything," her sister said nonchalantly. "Act as if it wasn't intentional."

"Hmm… that… might not be possible," she said. "It's… pretty bad."

**Disclaimer: a few of these are purposely misleading. Just because it's fun to drive you all crazy ;) **


	21. Friendship One-shot

**I didn't have the chance to tell you the title of the sequel before, so this update's to tell you the first chapter's been posted & it's called _Behind Glittering Gold._ But this website has rules again author's notes chapters, and I've gotten multiple requests for Corin/Pheneus interaction which doesn't really come up too much in the sequel. So here's some friendship fluff to make this into more than just an author's note. And I added a few more teasers for ****_Behind Glittering Gold_**** at the end. :) **

**Takes place the day when Susan and Pheneus first arrive in Archenland, right after the boys are officially introduced. **

"Do you box?" was the very first question Corin asked as soon as he and Pheneus were out of the Throne Room.

"I – ah – what?" Pheneus said, thrown off by the strange question.

"Box," Corin said eagerly. "I've been hoping for a boxing partner for awhile. Father doesn't particularly approve. But he doesn't say no either."

"Um, forgive me, but no, your Highness," Pheneus said nervously, not sure how to act around the hyperactive, young prince. He had been rather expecting a young boy grieving the death of his mother, not… this. "I am trained in swordplay though."

"Oh, bother titles. Besides, I'm not even sure what to call you if it comes to that. Since Queen Susan said something about you not really being a prince. But then she said you were her nephew."

"I'm the High King's and Queen Aiyanna's ward," he said, biting his lip. He really didn't want to get into it.

"Whatever. Politics. I can't believe I eventually have to learn and be serious about all that stuff," he groaned dramatically.

Pheneus raised an eyebrow. "As Crown Prince, shouldn't you be learning such things already? For the good of all the country."

"Blah, blah, blah. You sound like one of Father's advisers," Corin interrupted. "Maybe I don't care about the good of the country. Besides, what's the harm of letting a few details slide here and there?"

"Mother might not have died if Archenland didn't have soldiers so easy to bribe," Pheneus blurted out. He then realized what he said and covered his mouth quickly. "I…Forgive me, your Highness. I didn't mean to imply – "

"What happened?" Corin said, suddenly serious for once.

Pheneus explained what had happened.

"I…I'm so sorry. I can't believe that happened!" Corin exclaimed. "I want to go track down those soldiers and box every one of them until they realize what they've done!"

Pheneus just stared blankly at the prince who had completely missed the point. "Why not make sure you have loyal, trustworthy soldiers in the first place? Or that your Lords are sober enough to make halfway decent decisions?"

"I'm really not sure what Father does. Although I guess you have a point. I really ought to start learning about such things so I can eventually help. But everything Father does is just so boring! I just want to stay a prince forever! Princes have all the fun," he said.

"I actually find what the Hi- I mean, Peter does rather fascinating," Pheneus said slowly.

"Seriously? Even all like, paperwork thingies? I'm not even sure what it is. But it looks like the absolute worst thing ever!" Corin exclaimed.

Pheneus was rather annoyed by this attitude from the prince. He could easily think of an entire list of worst things he had experienced. Starving, living off of no money, hearing his little sisters crying because they hadn't enough to eat, fearing for his uncle's life, his mother dying… but wait. The prince may have had a coddled life, but the last one was true for him as well.

"Worse than your mother dying?" he said incredulously.

Corin shot him a look. "It… that wasn't mean literally. Of course not. Not even close. Same with my twin dying. Oh, wait. Do you know about that?"

Pheneus nodded. His mother had mentioned it in her attempts at teaching him when he was young and he had studied it in lessons at Cair Paravel. No one knew exactly what the prince's fate had been, but he was unlikely to have survived this long.

"You take everything too seriously!" Corin whined. "Why?"

"I… I've always had to. Otherwise my sisters might have not survived," he said gravely.

"Well, let's go have fun then! Loosen up!"

"You want to have fun even with your mother so recently dead?" Pheneus asked incredulously.

"Mother loved life! And she loved to see me happy. She wouldn't want to see me mourning. What about yours?"

"I…I guess the same."

"So come on! Let's go," Corin said, grabbing Pheneus' hand and dragging him out to the stables.

"Why aren't we going through the door?" Pheneus whispered as Corin began crawling through a hole in the wall in the back.

"Because if we go in that way, the hostlers'll see us, and they'll never let us ride the good horses!" Corin exclaimed. "Don't you want to have some real fun? No silly ponies."

"…No," Pheneus said. "I really don't want to actually."

"Oh, buck up. You'll love it," Corin insisted. Pheneus considered returning to the castle, but then Corin would be left alone with his recklessness. Shaking his head, Pheneus wondered what in the world he had gotten himself into. He could only hope they didn't get into too much trouble.

**And now for the teasers I promised….**

He pulled out the knife. His face darkened as he recognized it. There was no mistaking it, as much as he wished he was wrong.

* * *

><p>"So you've come to chat and have tea with me?" he said dryly.<p>

She shot him a glance. "I would have visited you before um..."

"Before I wound up in prison again?"

"Yeah. Sorry about that."

* * *

><p>"I'll go," he offered, much to her relief. But that did not seem to settle the issue. The other man's face was turning several shades of red in disbelief and anger.<p>

"What do you mean you'll go? No, you will _not_!" he said furiously.


End file.
